Bookworms and Chasers
by martman
Summary: Lily can't believe her bad luck when she's paired with the arrogant and conceited James Potter in almost every lesson, as well as being dumped with the task of giving him extra tutoring. She partly blames him for ending her friendship with Severus and refuses to date him, but James can't seem to take no for an answer and Lily can't deny that he's slowly growing on her...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I've decided to try a James/Lily pairing, as I've had a few different ideas for this fic. It starts on the first day of term of their sixth year. Please enjoy and review! **

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"Please."

"No."

"_Please."_

"I said no, Potter."

Their sixth year had only just begun and already James Potter was busy trying and failing to ask Lily Evans out. At the small, round table at the back of the library, Lily was attempting to make the most of her free first period re-read and correct one of her many summer essays, but this proved to be quite difficult with James slumped over three quarters of the desk.

"You're being unreasonable," James whined. "Why not?"

Lily tucked a loose strand of her auburn hair behind her ear and sighed. "You know why."  
She'd still not forgiven him for what he'd done mere months ago. As if bullying her best friend - _ex-best friend, _Lily often had to remind herself - wasn't bad enough, James had then proceeded to push him so far past the point of humiliation that he'd said _that word, _and by doing so pushed Lily out of his life for good, whether he meant to or not. She knew she couldn't be mad at James for what Severus had said and done, but she'd be lying if she thought it hadn't have happened if it wasn't for James.

"You aren't _still _hung up on that, are you?" James sighed, much to Lily's annoyance. She didn't answer. Knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere today, James stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder.  
"Fine. I'll see you in Charms."

Lily scowled as she looked around and watched him leave, wondering how he dared have the audacity to talk to her. Lily could still hear him when he reached Sirius Black at the library door, who was sniggering.  
"Yeah, you were right, James – this year is _definitely _your year…"

"Oh shut up, Padfoot," James hissed, then cleared his voice and ruffled up his jet black hair, "besides, she's totally got a thing for me, I can tell."

"Yeah, right," Sirius chuckled as they left, James looking slightly crestfallen.

Fifteen minutes later, Lily arrived at her charms class, and little Professor Flitwick was waiting at the door with a piece of parchment in his hand.

"Good morning, Miss Evans," he squeaked with a watery smile. He glanced quickly at his parchment and then added, "You'll be sitting on the back row on the right, right next to the window, if you please." He extended his short arm, inviting Lily into the classroom.

"We have assigned seats, Professor?" Lily asked slowly, a little taken aback.

"I'm afraid so – it's new for the year. Well now, hurry up, won't you?"

Lily opened her mouth and then closed it again, unsure what to say. She hurried into the room and took her seat, noticing that the few students that were already in the room looked just as confused as she did about the new seating arrangements.

After ten minutes or so, the majority of the sixth years were seated. Just as Flitwick was about to speak, the door burst open and James, Sirius and Remus Lupin all hurried inside.

"S-sorry, Professor," Remus panted, looking sincere, whilst the other two grinned.

Flitwick shook his head. "Late on the first day, boys? Not a good start. Right -" he consulted his parchment, "Mr Lupin, third row, second on the left, Mr Black, this empty seat at the front here… and Mr Potter… Ah yes, beside Miss Evans, if you will."

The three boys glanced at each other, James grinning wildly, and took their seats.

Lily tried her utmost to focus her attention on the view outside the window, pretending she hadn't even noticed James enter and sit down beside her. It was only the first day back and already things had taken a turn for the worst.

Flitwick took in the charms essays that he'd set over the summer, and instructed them to brush up on their skills, practising anything they'd become rusty on. Lily knew that James would see this as the perfect opportunity to pester her again, and braced herself.

"We meet again," James grinned at her, running his hand through his hair.

Lily glanced sideways in response.

"You could at least say hello," James frowned slightly. "Or am I not worth even that?"

Lily scoffed. "Are you being serious?"

"W-what do you – I'm being serious about you saying hello. It's polite." He paused a moment and then added. "It's also polite to accept when you're asked out."

Lily turned to face him, and smiled as sweetly as she could. At this, James grinned.

"James Potter," she said calmly, "You are the most arrogant, rude, conceited person I know, and I do not now, or ever, want to go out with you. Leave me alone, you self-obsessed prick." She smiled again, forcing herself not to laugh out loud at the expression on James' face.

She watched as James' smile dropped and his face gradually became pinker, and then tore her gaze away from his comical expression. _Obviously he isn't used to rejection, _Lily thought smugly.

To her pleasure, James remained quiet for the majority of the lesson, until he turned towards her and said bitterly, "You aren't so perfect yourself, you know."

"And is that not reason enough for you to leave me alone?" Lily asked sarcastically without looking away from the window.

James apparently didn't acknowledge this and went on: "I mean, the company you keep is far from perfect. Oh – no, I'm sorry – the company you _used _to keep."

Lily tore her gaze from the window and glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Clearly pleased he'd drawn this reaction, James smirked. "You know what I mean. That slimy git – I bet you're glad to be rid of him, bloody parasite-"

"Don't you dare," Lily hissed, her eyes narrowing. "Don't."

"He's been skulking around with those other Slytherin thugs, now that he's not around you… but now we all know how he _really _felt about you, don't we-"

He was cut short as Lily slammed her foot into his shin underneath the table.

"What the f-! Are you actually – gah!" James disappeared under the desk, rubbing his leg. "Are you serious, Evans?" he spat as he got back into his seat. "After what he said, you're defending him?!"

"Well," Lily whispered, close to tears, "I'm sure we both know that he wouldn't have said what he did if you hadn't done what _you _did."

James' mouth dropped in disbelief. "You're blaming me?" he asked quietly.

"Maybe if you hadn't been so nasty-"

"M-_me, _nasty?! I bet you haven't heard what things he plans and discusses with his little death eater friends, have you?! Believe me, _Evans, _if it really is my fault, you'd thank me if you know what he really gets up to."

Lily glared out of the window again, blinking back tears.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly after a moment. "Someone like you isn't safe around people like him." He placed his hand on her shoulder, but she shot an angry look at him and shrugged him off.

"Just leave me alone."

Deep down Lily knew that James wasn't to blame for Severus' actions, even if he had just said what he did in the heat of the moment. She knew that he was getting more and more involved in the dark arts and she didn't like it. It frightened her. Not to mention his Slytherin friends, she knew exactly how they felt about 'someone like her'. Nevertheless, James _was _an arrogant bully and hurt Severus, and even if they weren't friends anymore, it wasn't something she felt she could easily forgive.

Five minutes before the end of the lesson, Flitwick was handing out marked copies of their essays.

"Dear me, Potter," he shook his head. "Rather poor, really. That's not at all like you. Where you not paying attention when we covered binding and strengthening charms at the end of last year?"

James' ears pinked. "Sorry, Professor. I didn't have much time – Quidditch, you know – I uh…"

Flitwick placed Lily's essay on the desk, a large black 'O' at the top. "You ought to take a leaf out of Miss Evans' book, Potter. Maybe you should consider extra tutoring until you catch up."

"No, uh, Professor, that isn't-"

"In fact, Miss Evans, why don't you help Potter yourself? I'm sure you can arrange to meet weekly to help Potter catch up on what he missed last year. Yes, now, I think that's settled, isn't it?"

Lost for words, Lily stared blankly at her teacher. She couldn't say no, she was a prefect. How bad would it make her look if she refused to assist a fellow student with his studies?

"Yes, I think so," Flitwick continued. "I look forward to seeing your grades improve, Potter," and with that he shuffled away as the bell rang.

Lily furiously packed away her things and didn't bother to pick up her over turned chair as she stormed out of the classroom, livid.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Chapter 2 is up! Enjoy!**

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Lily was still furious as she headed to the library at break. Since she was no longer friends with Severus, she found herself spending a lot of time alone. Yes, she had other friends, but they seemed to have turned quite bitter towards Lily now that they had been proved right about the fact that Severus wasn't 'different' to any of the other Slytherins. They reprimanded Lily, saying that she should have just listened in the first place and she could have saved herself all of this upset. Deciding that she'd rather be away from all the 'I told you so's for the time being, Lily decided to keep her distance.

James, on the other hand, was another issue. It was bad enough that she was made to sit next to that arrogant idiot in one class, but now she had to meet him outside of the lesson and tutor him one on one. She knew he'd probably use this as an opportunity to ask her out _again, _even though he was fighting for a lost cause. It wasn't the frequent asking-out that got on Lily's nerves; it was the pure cheek James had in assuming she'd want to date him after what he'd done.

She was first to arrive to transfiguration after break, and saw that like Flitwick, Professor McGonagall was also stood by the door with what Lily hoped was not another seating arrangement plan in her hand.

"Miss Evans, yes… Fourth row, in the corner there on the right…" she said briskly without looking up.

Annoyed, Lily nodded and took her seat, hoping that she'd be sat a good distance away from James.

Not a minute later, Lily heard McGonagall's voice again.

"Mr Potter… Fourth row…" she began as Lily rolled her eyes glumly, "second from the right."

Lily held her breath in annoyance and saw out of the corner of her eye the tall frame of James enter the room, and then pause as he counted the seats on the row. Lily closed her eyes and a moment later there was a dull thud of books on wood on the desk next to her.

_Fantastic, _she thought, _could this day get any worse? _

To her surprise he didn't say anything to her; instead just took out his books and waited quietly, leaning on his elbow with his head in his hand.

As McGonagall headed to the front and began charming the chalk to write on the board, Lily put up her hand.

"Excuse me, Professor, but are the seating arrangements the same in every class?"

McGonagall turned and looked at Lily over her glasses. "Yes, I believe so. As near as they can be, anyway. Why, is there a problem?"

Lily looked bitterly at James. Should she complain? She was a prefect after all, and mature enough to rise above this.

"No, professor."

After five minutes the rest of the class had entered and sat down, and McGonagall was busy running through the outline of the year's studies. When she had finished, she set them the task of practising non-verbal spells which Lily gladly got on with – it meant James wouldn't be able to talk to her.

This theory proved to be untrue, however, when James leaned sideways and began whispering to her halfway through the lesson.

"I know this isn't ideal for you, Evans, but it's not something for you to get your knickers in a twist about," he murmured.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, who knows? Maybe through private tutoring we could… get to know each other a bit better. Maybe you'll start to realise what you're missing."

Lily couldn't help but scoff, "In your dreams, Potter." She made a mental note to never meet with him anywhere remotely private.

"You don't know half of what we get up to in _my_ dreams," he said, and even without looking Lily could tell he was smirking and she grimaced.

Her third and final lesson for the day was Potions, which lifted Lily's spirits a little – even if she were placed beside James, potions was an independent subject so he'd have little need to annoy her.

When she arrived she saw that most students had already been seated, two Gryffindors and Slytherins to a table.

"Lily!" Slughorn greeted her with a warm smile. "Good to see you, good to see you. You'll be sitting on that table on the left, beside Mr Potter, there."

Sure enough, opposite a large and burly Slytherin, the ruffled black head of James was already present, and there was an empty stool next to him. He turned and looked at her as she sat down, but she purposely busied herself with unloading her book and parchment.

As Slughorn told the class the lessons' objectives, the dungeon door swung open and the slim, long haired figure of Severus Snape slipped in.

"Mr Snape," he frowned and shook his head. "You're very late. Sit down and take out your things." He gestured to the table Lily was sat at, and the only empty chair in the room. He slunk forward and sat down, smiling very weakly at Lily before quickly averting his eyes.

A while later the class was busy brewing a forgetfulness potion, and Lily was standing at the store cupboard carefully selecting some ingredients.

"I didn't see you all summer," a quiet voice mumbled from behind her, and Lily turned and saw that Severus had come to the cupboard.

Lily ignored him.

"I wanted to see you, to explain…"

Lily sighed angrily. "I've already told you, there's nothing you need to explain. You've made your feelings pretty clear…"

"You don't know anything about how I feel," he muttered as Lily took down a jar of mistletoe berries. "Please, Lily-"

He stopped speaking abruptly as James came out of nowhere, shoving him into the wall.

"What do you think you're doing, Snivellous?" James asked threateningly. "I thought I'd told you never to go near Evans again."

At this, Lily didn't know how to feel. She didn't want to talk to Severus, and she didn't want to talk to James. She was angry at Severus but at the same time she certainly didn't want James Potter to defend her. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off.

"You really think I'd listen to a pathetic rich boy like you, Potter?" Severus sneered. "I could shut you up in an instant if I wanted to."

James grabbed him by the collar and pushed him harder against the wall. "Is that meant to be a threat?" he snarled and Severus gave a small dry laugh.

By now, several people had stopped what they were doing and were staring, looking from the pair of boys to Lily, confused.

"You could say that, yeah. Don't think I'll let someone like you get in my way, Potter."

James narrowed his eyes. "Don't think _I'll _let someone like _you _get to her," he jerked his head in Lily's direction. "I know exactly what you and your pathetic death ea-"

Unable to stand and watch any longer, Lily interrupted. "Stop it! Stop it the both of you!" She tried in vain to pull James off of Severus but James' grip on the other boy's shirt didn't loosen. Slughorn had now noticed the situation but seemed too intimidated to interrupt.

"What the hell do you think you're both doing?" She exclaimed, finally managing to separate the two, "acting like children!"

Severus looked down at Lily, surprised. Before he could speak, Lily hissed at him, "I told you I never wanted to speak to you again. Leave me alone, or I'll make you."

He frowned, and then seemed rather hurt. Lily continued to glare at him until he straightened his shirt and walked out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him whilst Slughorn looked affronted.

Lily then turned back to James, who was looking rather smug. "And _you_!" She spat, "I don't need _you _to defend me! What, do you think you're all high and mighty, throwing him against the wall because he spoke to me?!"

"I was just-"

"You're just as pathetic as he is," she said harshly and went back to her seat, James following.

"I'm trying to help you," he said quietly when they were back at the table.

"I don't want your help."

"Look – I'm just… I care about you and I don't want that dickhead upsetting you again." James mumbled.

Lily glanced at him scathingly, not knowing what to say. She decided to keep quiet, and was thankful that James also didn't speak after that for the rest of the lesson.

With her lessons finished for the day, Lily went back to the library to make a start on the transfiguration essay they'd been given. She couldn't concentrate though; the events of the day were playing on her mind.

She knew she _should _feel a little grateful to James for trying to defend her, but she couldn't. He was too much of an arrogant bully to be deserving of her gratitude, and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction anyway. And then there was Severus – they'd been best friends for years and now she couldn't even look him in the eye without feeling upset and angry.

Thankful that sixth years could use the library until ten thirty, Lily managed to push aside these thoughts at last and make a start on her homework.

It was a quarter to eleven when Lily had finished, and so she was in a rush to get back to the common room because as a prefect, she'd be in extra trouble for being back past curfew.

The castle was eerily silent at night, and it motivated Lily to move a little faster. Whilst passing the fifth floor corridor, she heard voices and decided to go and investigate, assuming it was a group of first years exploring at night.

"…Can't do it then, we'll have to go on the first Hogsmeade weekend…"

"Won't there be others watching, I mean… It's not a very safe thing to do in broad daylight…"

"Excuse me," Lily cleared her throat loudly as she approached the shadowy outline of two people. "Students aren't permitted to wander the castle at night." She quickly cast _lumos _and her wand lit up, revealing the identity of the students.

"Well, look who it is," the hollow face of Walden Macnair came into view. "It's Snapey's little mudblood."

Lily's stomach dropped. Being alone in a dark corridor with two shady Slytherins was not a good situation to be in. She was offended and angry at his comment, but couldn't muster a reply.

"It's not safe to be wandering the castle at night – Oh! But you'd know that, wouldn't you, being a _prefect," _the other, Lily recognised as Avery, said mockingly.

Lily drew herself up to her full height and said with authority, "You need to leave. Go back to your common room."

The two boys looked at each other and smiled darkly.

"Why would we when there's fun to be had with mudbloods up here?" Avery sneered.

Starting to panic, Lily took a step backwards. "I'll have to report you if you don't go back," she said, trying to keep her voice level.

"Oh well," Macnair said in mock disappointment, "If we're going to be _reported…"_

"I suppose we'd better do something that's _worth _being reported _for_," the other said, nodding knowingly.

"W-what do you mean?" Lily was struggling to keep her voice under control now, and the two were slowly advancing.

They slowly drew their wands, but Lily was too quick. She disarmed them both and their wands flew ten feet behind them.

Avery began laughing and Macnair snarled, "We don't need wands for what we want, you filthy bitch."

He lunged at Lily and knocked her over backwards. She screamed, feeling his body pressing her to the ground and his his rough hands pulling at her tights. Writhing with panic and fear, Lily didn't notice the heavy weight of her attacker vanish. She felt herself being pulled upright and found that she was clinging to some kind of wet, warm material.

It took a while for her to calm down, and even then she was still clinging to and sobbing into her rescuer.

"It's okay, you're fine," said a soothing and familiar voice, their hand gently but securely holding her back. "Fucking bastards, talk about good timing…"

Lily sniffed and rubbed her nose on her sleeve, stepping backwards.

"You…" she gasped, looking up at James Potter, splattered with mud and damp from the rain.

James sighed. "I get it, you hate me. Just don't have a go at me, will you? I _have _just stopped those two from… Well, it was purely coincidence I was here to help."

Both Avery and Macnair were sprawled on the floor, unconscious. Lily stared at them in horror and then back at James. She couldn't help it, and started crying again. She knew that these guys were foul, but never thought they'd be capable of… _Well, what had they been planning to do?_ she thought… _Scare me or… actually hurt me?_

"Come on," James picked up the broomstick on the floor and then his hand was around her shoulder and he was leading her out of the corridor, "I'm taking you to the hospital wing…"

"No," Lily muttered, "No, I don't want to."

James sighed. "You really should-"

"No." she said firmly.

James looked down at her.

"I want to go to bed," she sniffed.

James chuckled weakly. "Well, I don't really do that on the first date, but if you insist…"

Lily glared at him.

"S-sorry," he mumbled, "inappropriate. C-come on."

He led her up the staircase, slowly and carefully. He supported her the whole way and Lily surprised him and herself by not pushing him away.

The common room was empty when they entered, and Lily was thankful. She could imagine what kind of questions their entrance would have provoked: her shaken and tear stained, him with his arm around her shoulder.

James' hand dropped and released Lily, who headed straight for the girl's dormitory. She stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned.

"Thank you," she whispered and smiled at him weakly before heading up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Here's chapter three. I felt it was getting a little fluffy toward the end but... eh. Please enjoy and review!**

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Lily awoke the following morning feeling awful and exhausted; she'd barely had any sleep due to frequent tossing and turning, and dreams of herself in the form of a koala bear, clinging to a tree and refusing to let go, which just so happened to have James Potter's head attached to the trunk.

What irritated Lily the most was how secure and safe she'd felt the previous night, hanging onto the front of James' robes and shaking hysterically. She could still feel the firm but caring grasp he'd had around her shoulders and it drove her mad.

_Why can't I get it out of my stupid head?! _She thought furiously as she pulled on her cardigan. It was only seven am but Lily wanted to get down to breakfast early, hoping that she'd be able to avoid most people, especially James, and even more Avery and Macnair.

That was another issue. She didn't know how to tackle the situation. She knew she had talk to someone, of course. Wandering around the castle at night was one thing, but physically attacking her was another.

Lily pushed away her half-finished cereal and decided she should go and talk to Professor Dumbledore, he'd know the best way to handle the situation.

Arriving at the gargoyle before the headmaster's office, Lily paused. She didn't know how to get in. There wasn't a door; she couldn't knock.

"Uh… Excuse me? Could you let me past? I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore," she said warily to the stone statue, but nothing happened.

Lily cleared her throat and tried again. "Um… Hello? I need to see-"

At that moment, the gargoyle began moving, and Dumbledore appeared behind it, descending the small spiral stairs.

"Oh – Miss Evans. Good morning."

"Sorry, sir – I uh, I wanted to come and report an incident that happened last night," she said quietly, embarrassed.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows knowingly. "I assume it is regarding Misters Avery and Macnair?" he asked gently.

Lily nodded slowly, perplexed as to how he could possibly know.

"Let's go into my office," he said softly, and led the way back up the stairs.

Once seated behind his desk, he went on, "Mr James Potter came to see me rather late last night. He was in quite a state."

Lily frowned and wordlessly took the seat opposite the headmaster.

"He told me that on his way to Gryffindor tower, he'd heard screaming. He then proceeded down the fifth floor corridor and found a young lady lying on the ground, being attacked by another student." He paused for a moment and then added, "I assume this is the incident you wish to report?"

Lily nodded again.

"You need not worry, Miss Evans. Mr Macnair will not be returning to Hogwarts, and Mr Avery has been given an official warning, along with detention every night this month."

"That's, uh… Yeah, that's… Well, as long as _he's_ not around anymore…" Lily muttered. "Thank you, Professor."

The headmaster smiled. "Miss Evans, if anything similar to this happens in the future, I urge you to leave straight away and alert me at once. We cannot have our prefects putting themselves at risk, can we?"

"No, Professor."

"I think you should be leaving now, lessons start in five minutes, do they not?" Dumbledore got up to see her out.

"Yes Professor. Thank you," Lily said again, a little embarrassed but grateful all the same.

"Oh, and one more thing," Dumbledore added as Lily left the room. "Be sure to thank Mr Potter for his kindness, won't you?"

Lily frowned. Had she not already thanked him? _Maybe I owe him a little more gratitude, _she wondered. She smiled at Dumbledore and said, "Of course, Professor. Goodbye."

Lily's first lesson was Care Of Magical Creatures, so she hurried down to the school grounds.

After quickly offering her apologies to the teacher, Lily joined the gaggle of students crowding around a small, roofed pen. Inside were five large, cat like creatures with large, beady eyes and extremely bushy tails.

"Kneazles," the teacher announced, and began an in depth description on their traits and appearance. She indicated another small pen with several similar animals inside, and the class were instructed on listing the differences between the magical creatures and regular, domesticated cats.

Taking advantage in the class' lack of interest in the regular cats, Lily took to tickling one's ear through the gap in the pen.

"Cute, aren't they?"

Lily jumped. She hadn't noticed James crouching beside her, stroking one of the other cats.

"How long have you been there?" she asked. She'd jumped at every little noise since last night and was still feeling a little on edge.

"About five seconds," he replied. "How are you feeling?"

Lily frowned and didn't answer his question. "When did you go to Dumbledore?" she asked.

"Uh… Last night. After I'd seen you got to bed alright," he told her. "He kept me there for two hours until I'd calmed down. I was going to go after them… I can't believe those bastards attacked you."

Lily forced back a smile. It was nice of him to be so kind but she wasn't sure she wanted him to know that she thought so.

"Are you alright?" he asked her again, looking sincere.

"I'll be fine," she mumbled.

"You shouldn't have been walking around at night by yourself," he said to her sternly. "Why weren't you in the common room?"

"Oh, well I _do _apologise," she replied scathingly.

James didn't say anything. He continued petting the cat and then began smirking.

"What?" Lily asked hotly, "What's funny?"

James grinned. "Nothing. It's just…" Lily glared at him and his grin faltered a little. "…Well, yesterday, when you were saying you didn't need me to defend you… Seems like you were wrong…" he was smiling like an idiot again.

Lily narrowed her eyes slightly. "Just when I thought I was seeing the better side to you, you go and say something idiotic like that," Lily said flatly. She stood up and brushed off her knee. "I'm really grateful that you helped me last night but I still don't like you, Potter."

James stood up as well, now a head taller than Lily.

"Go out with me," he said, deadpan.

Lily laughed out loud. She picked up her parchment and walked over to the other pen, James following behind her, waiting for an answer.

"Definitely not," she half laughed, in complete disbelief at his audacity and persistence.

He snatched her quill out of her hand. "You would if you were as grateful as you say you are."

"Give me back my quill," she said wearily, one hand on her hip.

"Go out with me."

"Give me back my quill."

James shook his head.

"Are you saying that you only helped me last night so that you could blackmail me?" Lily raised her eyebrow, her temper heating up.

"Don't be an idiot," he ran his hand through his hair. "Of course not. But like I said, I helped you out. Why can't you help me out?"

"Help you out? By going out with you?" Lily scoffed.

James tossed Lily's quill up into the air and caught it, like he so often did with his stolen snitch.

"Fine, keep the quill. I have others," Lily sighed, defeated, and walked back to her bag.

"Hey, no – Evans! _Evans!" _he jogged after her.

"Oh my _god, _Potter!" Lily exclaimed. "Why can you not just leave me alone?!"

James just grinned at her. _Dislike him or not, _Lily thought, _this guy has one charming smile. _

She rolled her eyes. "You're like a stalker," she said to him, but he wouldn't relent. "If I go out with you, will you stop pestering me?"

James' eyes lit up. "A-are you being serious?"

"One date."

"Are you actually – I knew you'd say yes sooner or later," James was smiling like a fool, and Lily couldn't help but laugh; he looked quite stupid.

"Just leave me alone for the rest of the day," she told him. "I'm getting sick of the sight of you."

Lily walked back over to the Kneazle pen, thankful that James had finally stopped following her. She rolled her eyes. _What have I done…_ she thought, _why did I say yes…?_

She'd assumed that after one date, if she made it clear that she still didn't like him, he'd back off. At least, that's what she hoped. Yes, he might be good looking, talented and charming – any other girl would accept him immediately – but there was still the issue of him being a conceited, arrogant bully.

_He did save me last night though_, Lily thought; _I guess I do owe him… _

At this, Lily remembered her dream and how safe and warm she felt in his arms. She shook her head; she did _not _want those thoughts to take control.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello! I know that Lily seems pretty aggressive and bitter towards James, but that's genuinely how I imagine she'd be. She might come across as a little harsh but truthfully I think she's just a little confused about her feelings - I mean, who can refuse Charming James, even if he is a bit of a dick? I'm going to build on this in the next chapter, but just wanted to clarify now!**

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To Lily's utter surprise, James kept his word and barely spoke to her for the remainder of the week, despite having to sit beside her in every lesson. Only, now he'd taken to gazing at her dreamily and flashing her a dazzling smile every now and again, which Lily found quite distracting.

Similarly, she'd not heard from, or barely seen Severus either. She only shared Potions with him but he'd failed to attend each lesson so far that week. Lily wondered if it was because of the impression James had made at the start of the week, if he was too cowardly to show up, but then decided she couldn't care less why he was missing.

It was at dinner that Lily chose to go and speak to James, regarding the dreaded tutor sessions. Flitwick had insisted she use his classroom, which Lily wasn't too pleased about because of it's privacy, and now had the daunting task of seeking out James and telling him.

She could see him sat at the end of the long house table with his friends nearing the end of dinner. Lily took a deep breath before heading over, unsure why she was feeling so intimidating by James and his friends.

It was Sirius that first noticed Lily approaching the group. He grinned mischievously and then tapped James on the shoulder, who then spun around immediately and began ruffling up his hair.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from me," he said to her and winked.

She gave him an unamused look. "Oh, shut up," she said. "I've come to ask when's best for you to do this stupid charms tutoring."

The other three boys began sniggering. Lily wondered if it was because James had to have extra tutoring or because it was with her. She felt the blood rise to her face.

"I'm free to do it tonight, after six thirty. I've got prefect patrols until then," she told him.

"Six thirty is fine by me, baby," James winked at her again.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Don't call me that."

The others began snickering again and the tops of James' ears went pink.

"We have to use the charms classroom, so meet me there later," she said quickly, avoiding eye contact, and then hurried out of the Great Hall before James or any of his friends could say anything.

Lily's patrol started at five fifteen, and she was meant to be meeting one of the Hufflepuff prefects on the fourth floor, their allocated patrol zone.

When Lily arrived, the other prefect was already present, leaning against the wall, waiting.

When she saw that it wasn't a Hufflepuff, she frowned. Instead it was Remus Lupin, the other Gryffindor prefect.

"Thompson told me to let you know he couldn't patrol with you tonight," Remus said as she approached. "Emergency Quidditch practise or something. You've got me instead."

_I bet Potter has put him up to this, _Lily thought bitterly as she nodded at Remus. _I suppose it could be worse though._

Out of James Potter's group of friends, Lily thought that Remus seemed by far the most trustworthy. He wasn't much like James at all - James seemed the opposite of Remus. He was loud, outspoken and a show off: everything Remus was not.

"Fine," she said, and they set off down the corridors together. They stayed silent mostly, checking here and there for loitering students and reprimanding them.

It seemed to be going quite well until Remus said, "James has been talking about you all week, you know." Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, more than usual, that is," he added.

"Sorry, Lupin, but the last thing I want to talk about is James Potter. Especially with you – no offence."

Lupin's brow furrowed a little and he said, "he's not so bad really, you know."

"No, I _don't _know. He seems pretty bad to me," Lily scoffed.

"It depends what you class as 'bad'," said Remus.

"Oh, I don't know – rude, self-obsessed, arrogant…"

Remus chuckled. "His heart's in the right place, though. That's how he was brought up – he's spoiled."

Lily sighed and said flatly, "I thought I said I didn't want to talk about him? It's bad enough I've got to see him later…"

"Right," he laughed softly. "Sorry. Just… you know, give him a chance."

Lily rolled her eyes, "I bet he told you to say that, didn't he? I bet he bullied you into trying to convince me he's God's gift."

Even in the dim light, she could see Remus' face redden.

Lily arrived at the charms classroom a little early, wanting to quickly plan what she was going to teach James. When she pushed open the door, James was already inside, leaning against a desk and tossing a snitch into the air.

"You're early," Lily said shortly.

"Maybe you're late," he said with a smirk, pocketing the snitch.

"I said six thirty. It's six twenty five."

James held his hands up in the air in mock defeat. "Well, you've got me. You're just so beautiful that I can't think straight when I think of you."

Lily failed to repress a small smile. "How long have you been holding onto that one?"

"Since you left at dinner," James grinned.

Lily pulled out her copy of last year's _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 _and flicked to the chapter on binding charms. She pushed the book towards James and said, "Read that."

"Yes, Professor."

Lily grimaced. "Don't call me that."

"Okay, baby."

"_Or _that," she sighed, annoyed.

Five minutes passed in silence until James pushed the book back to her. Lily pulled out a piece of string from her pocket and tapped each end.

"_Binerus_," she muttered, and one end of the string attached itself seamlessly to the other, forming a perfect ring. "There," she said. "Easy. You try it now."

She cast _diffindo _on the string and it split in two. James pulled it towards him and cast the binding charm. Again, the string looped perfectly.

"Wait, what?" Lily muttered, confused, and picked up the loop. It was perfectly attached, no loose ends or mistakes anywhere. "I thought you said you didn't study this last year!"

"No, I said I didn't have much _time," _James told her. "I mastered this spell in the first lesson. Even if I wasn't paying attention the whole time."

Lily glared at him angrily. "If you don't need help, why are you here? Why didn't you tell Flitwick that I didn't need to waste my time tutoring you?!"

"And pass up on the opportunity on some alone time with you?" James said cheekily as Lily tutted angrily. "Anyway, it's not as though he gave us much say in the matter."

"You've got to be kidding me," Lily mumbled to herself, snapping shut the textbook and shoving it back in her bag. "_Complete _waste of time…"

"Hey, no!" James whined, reaching over and grasping her wrist. "I still need help with other stuff!"

"Oh, like what?" Lily said dramatically. "Your love life, I suppose? That's the kind of ridiculous thing you'd say."

"Well yeah, but no," James got out of his chair to stop Lily leaving the classroom. "The other thing, strengthening charms, I need help with that. Please."

Lily sighed angrily and folded her arms. "Fine. Sit down, shut up and read the book. If you can't keep your stupid comments to yourself, I'm leaving."

James smiled in relief but Lily's expression remained hard. She sat back down and folded her arms, rocking her foot slightly, keeping a sharp eye on the clock behind the teacher's desk.

As soon as it was seven thirty, she jumped up and walked out of the classroom without a word.

She was passing the sixth floor when James managed to catch up with her.

"Hey – you left your book!" he panted. "You could have waited, do you really think it's a good idea for you to be walking around alone again?"

"What are you, my bodyguard?" she snapped, snatching the book from him.

"If you want, yeah. I'd be more than happy to," he grinned again and Lily stalked off.

"Wait a minute," he caught up with her, "I wanted to talk to you about our date."

Lily took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. How could she forget?

"Next Saturday is the first Hogsmeade weekend, I was thinking we could go for a butterbeer and look around the shops."

"Very romantic," Lily muttered.

"Oh – well if you'd prefer, we could go to that stupid teashop. That's supposed to be nice and quiet and stuff…"

Lily quickly shook her head and said, "No, no. Shopping's fine." She didn't dare to imagine how he'd be if she was alone with James in a small, secluded teashop.

"Fantastic!" James beamed. "I'm really looking forward to it!"

Lily glanced at him, and laughed. He was acting like a six year old on Christmas Eve.

"I- Uh, I mean, you know… whatever."

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**Please Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I feel so efficient, updating so frequently like this! Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up! So... It's time for James and Lily's date. I guess there's a bit of an unexpected appearance but... we'll see. Let me know what you think!**

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The following Monday, Flitwick approached Lily and James during their Charms class.

"I trust you've begun your little extra sessions?"

Lily nodded wordlessly.

"Good, good," Flitwick beamed, and walked away.

"At least someone's pleased about it," Lily muttered and James smiled.

"You're the only one that isn't pleased," he pointed out, and she rolled her eyes.

"Uh, excuse me…"

A Ravenclaw student from the row in front was leaning back on his chair, trying to catch Lily's attention. He had a handsome face with sandy, curly hair that flopped lazily onto his forehead.

"You got a spare quill?" he asked and smiled kindly at her.

Lily hesitated for a moment, busy drinking in his appearance, and then quickly said breathlessly, "Yes, of course," and handed him the one she was using, ignoring James' intense glare.

"Thanks," he grinned and winked at her. James scowled.

"You're Lily Evans, aren't you?" the boy had now swivelled around on his chair and was now leaning casually on her desk. Lily nodded.

"Adrian Carter," he extended a toned arm, and Lily shyly shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you," he flashed her a stunning smile. "It's just my luck that the Ravenclaws are paired with the Gryffindors in lessons this year."

To her side, James cleared his throat loudly, but Lily took no notice. Appearing to be a little disgruntled by James' constant stare, Adrian winked at Lily again and turned back around.

"He seems nice," Lily muttered happily to herself.

"I don't like him," James said quickly.

"Good for you," Lily said absentmindedly, fishing for another quill in her bag.

She heard James scoff and then say, "You prat." Lily raised an eyebrow. "You don't know who he is, do you?"

"Of course I do, he just told me," Lily answered agitatedly.

"No – he's a beater on the Ravenclaw team. He's a bigger slag than Sirius."

Lily snorted.

"No, I'm serious. He'll take whatever he can get. Every time Sirius breaks up with a girl, Carter's always straight in there, fishing for sloppy seconds…"

Lily looked affronted and hissed, "I'm not anybody's sloppy seconds!"

"I know you aren't," James said quickly, "I just mean – well, you don't want to be mixing with him. He's horrible."

Lily smirked. "You're jealous."

James frowned and said, "Of course I am. Well – no. I just don't want you going near scum like him. You're dating me."

"No I'm not!" Lily spat. "I said I'd _go _on one date with you. You're seriously pushing your luck."

"Well – whatever – just… stay away from him," James said sincerely.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Uh, hey - " Adrian had turned back around to Lily. "I'll just come out with it – do you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday?"

Lily blushed crimson. She'd been asked out bluntly by James various times, but it had never caught her off guard like this.

"Oh! Uh - "

"She can't," James interrupted harshly. "She's going with me." He shifted a little closer to Lily and glowered at the other boy.

Adrian smirked slightly, and then looked from Lily to James and back again. "Okay. No worries."

Before Lily could say anything else, he'd turned back around. She shot an angry look at James.

"What?!" he hissed, "You _are _going with me."

"I can still say no, you know. You're lucky I owe you, Potter. Unfortunately, I don't usually go back on my word."

"Look – I'm sorry," James leant in. "I just don't – Well, he's got a reputation, like I said. At least I know you'll be safe with me."

Lily turned to look at him. _Maybe he's not as self-obsessed as he seems, _she thought. _He seems pretty keen on making sure I'm alright…_

James smiled nervously as Lily simply looked at him without saying anything.

_I wish you weren't so good looking, you stupid prat. It'd be a lot easier to say no to you._

"What are you thinking?" James asked uneasily.

Lily shook her head quickly and flushed. "Nothing."

_Damn it Lily, stop it. You hate the guy. You've managed it for years, don't give in now…_

Saturday arrived without incident, and Lily awoke with a feeling of dread. She never thought she'd actually be stupid enough to go on a date with James Potter, but there she was, getting dressed for the big day.

Checking herself over in the mirror, Lily frowned. She was wearing a mid-length skirt and a plain, floaty blouse. She shook her head. It was a really nice outfit, too nice in fact. She didn't want James thinking she was overly keen. She swapped the skirt for a pair of jeans, pulled her hair up and headed down to breakfast.

Helping herself to a third slice of toast, someone cleared their throat at Lily's shoulder.

"Ready to go?" James was smiling down at her, looking wonderfully carefree and handsome in a leather jacket, loose t-shirt and jeans.

"I suppose," she sighed, getting up.

"You could _try_ to sound a little enthusiastic," he frowned.

She gave him a look that clearly said, 'let's just get this over with', and he said, "Look, I know you don't think much of me but trust me, we're gonna have a great day."

Lily forced a smile, and followed him out of the hall. It was raining lightly, so James suggested they go down to the village in a carriage. Lily remained quiet throughout the short journey whilst James talked at her, boasting about his recent promotion to Quidditch captain.

"…not surprised really, I _am _one of the best players. First match is next week, pretty soon actually so we've been training really hard."

Lily smiled and nodded, pretending she was interested, fighting the impulse to roll her eyes.

"I really _should _be practising today but… well, we're doing this," he said. "So hey, if we lose next week it's your fault! You were distracting the captain!" He laughed, but Lily didn't find the joke very funny. "You're worth it, anyway," he smiled and the tops of his ears went pink.

As they walked down the street, looking in shop windows, the rain became heavier. Lily didn't notice James slip off his jacket.

"Here," he handed it to her, and she looked at him, perplexed. "It's got a hood. Put it on."

Lily looked down at the jacket and back at James. "Uh… Thanks, but it's just a little rain. Keep it."

James shook his head firmly. "I don't want you to catch a cold." He stood with his arms folded until Lily gave in a slipped on the jacket. It was far too big and he sleeves hung way past her hands. It was warm though, and dry.

"Good," James smiled. "Come on, let's go and get a drink."

Lily followed him down to the Three Broomsticks, and he held the door open for her in a very gentlemanly manner.

Lily didn't know what to think, it was quite unnerving. This wasn't typical James behaviour at all. Usually he'd be making some sly, perverted joke or flirting shamelessly, but today he was actually being charming.

"Get a table, I'll get drinks," he told her.

Lily purposely sat down at a table in the middle of the pub. Even if he was acting like a gentleman now, she didn't want to give him the chance to try anything funny in some all-too-cosy corner booth.

She made to take off James' jacket, but the air in the pub was chilly, so she left it on and rolled up the sleeves. James returned with two glasses of Butterbeer.

Lily thanked him and awkwardly took a sip, looking nervously around the pub, unsure what to say.

James nervously cleared his throat. "So, uh… do much over the summer?"

Lily laughed at the basic choice of conversation, but said, "No, not much. There hasn't been much to do since Sev – Oh. Uh… W-what about you?" She quickly took another sip.

"My parents took me to France," he said absentmindedly. "To visit – uh, well… that's not important. It was a boring trip anyway."

Intrigued for the first time, Lily pressed him. "Why? What happened?"

"I – It's nothing, really…"

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"It's just… God, I can't believe I'm telling you… There's this girl - "

Lily blinked, and without thinking said, "I thought you liked me?"

Realising how conceited that probably sounded, she mentally reprimanded herself, but James didn't seem fazed.

"I do! It's… God, it's like… It's a pureblood thing," he said flatly.

"I guess a muggleborn like me wouldn't understand," she said scathingly, annoyed.

"No – no not at all!" James said hurriedly. "It just… It sounds really bad." He sighed. "The oldest pureblood families have this… sort of tradition. You know, like… purebloods marrying purebloods."

He looked at her nervously, but Lily's expression gave nothing away.

"It's like… a _betrothal," _he continued, a tone of disgust in his voice.

"So you went to France to meet your future wife?" Lily stated, deadpan.

"Well, no… I'm not marrying her, she's horrible," James said roughly.

Lily swilled the last of her Butterbeer around her glass.

"So your family aren't big on muggleborns," she said slowly.

"No, Lily… it's just… Look, my parents are old. They're old fashioned. It's traditional, that's all," he said reassuringly. Lily wasn't sure why this was upsetting her, but it was. She didn't even know why she cared at all.

"I'm _not_ marrying her," he scoffed, telling himself more than Lily.

Lily offered to go and get some more drinks, but James wouldn't allow it unless she used his money. Reluctantly she took it and headed over to the bar.

"Two Butterbeers, please," and the barmaid nodded and headed into the back to fetch more glasses.

Whilst waiting, Lily could hear the muffled conversation from the booth by the end of the bar.

"…He said he'd meet us down the end of alleyway behind the robe place; he won't be there for long. If that wimp Snape backs out again, I'll fucking make him sorry – we've all missed out so far because of him…"

Lily quickly glanced towards the booth and her eyes widened as she saw Avery, Macnair and another older Slytherin hunched together.

The barmaid passed the drinks over the bar to Lily, and she almost dropped one as James appeared at her shoulder.

"What's taking so - "

"Ssh!" she hissed at him and tried to return her focus on the conversation beside her.

"Finally, we'll be able to do some good for the Dark Lord," the older was saying, and Lily's breath caught in her throat. "Come on, let's go and find Snape and we can go…"

Lily's breathing became shallow. She wasn't involved with Severus anymore but she couldn't just stand by now that she knew he was planning to join _him. _She looked fearfully at James and then hurried back to the table to grab her bag, and then shot out of the pub door.

She heard James call her name behind her but she couldn't stop. She needed to find Severus before they did and talk him out of this. Severus wasn't the person Lily thought he was anymore, but she knew he definitely wasn't a death eater. He couldn't be.

She headed down the alleyway that the other Slytherins had described, and sure enough, Severus was leant against a wall, hands in his pockets.

"Sev…" Lily said breathlessly.

When he saw her, he frowned. "Lily – what are you doing here?" He checked behind himself and then his voice became more aggressive. "You shouldn't be here," he hissed. "Go away!"

"No," she whispered, walking closer to him. "I know what you're planning to do."

Severus looked worried. He opened his mouth to talk but Lily cut past him. "Please don't do it. _Please." _

He looked away, seemingly ashamed. "It's none of your business," he said in a low voice.

"Please," Lily couldn't stop the tears running down her cheeks. "Severus, this isn't who you are."

She made to grasp his wrist but he pulled it out of her reach. Lily didn't care that she was supposed to hate him, she was desperate.

James appeared at the mouth of the alleyway. He was halfway through calling Lily's name and then froze.

"What the hell is going on?!" he asked hotly as he marched up to Lily's side.

"What's _he _doing here?!" Severus spat, and James tensed.

"Please don't," Lily moaned. "Severus, please – _think _about what you're doing - "

James turned to Lily. "You ran out on our date for _this _fucker?" he hissed at her, "Really?!"

"You're dating _him_?!" Severus snarled and Lily frantically looked between the two boys. _This date could not have gone any worse._

She didn't want to be disrespectful or ungrateful to James, but the situation with Severus was far more important to her. She'd already let him throw years of friendship away; she couldn't let him throw his life away too.

Lily took another step towards Severus and out of the corner of her eye saw James flinch.

"Fine," James growled at her. "Fine, I get it. You choose him, even after how he treated you. Even after what his friends tried to do to you." He shot her a look of anger and hurt, and stormed out of the alleyway, leaving her alone with Severus.

"You're actually dating him?!" Severus narrowed his eyes. "Have you lost all respect for yourself?"

"Don't talk to me like that!" she cried, tears running freely down her face, "If anyone's lost their self-respect, it's you! You're better than them, Sev – you don't need to join them!"

He sighed bitterly. "You don't need to look out for me anymore. Not now… Just go, Lily." He turned to leave, and Lily called out to him.

"I'm just trying to help you!"

He stopped and spun around wildly, fire in his eyes. "I don't need your help, Lily! I don't want it!" He took a deep breath and added harshly, "I told you to go. They'll have my balls if they catch me talking to a mudblood."

He too then stormed out of the alley, leaving Lily stood alone, tears streaming and rain dripping from her sodden hair.

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**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Okay, here's another chapter. Lily feels bad but is still a bit put off by James... Please review!**

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Lily often heard other people complaining that they were in 'a bit of a pickle', even if it was something as minor as missing a homework deadline. If something as trivial as that could be considered a 'pickle', then Lily couldn't imagine a word to describe her own predicament.

It was still raining as Lily slowly trudged back to the castle. She couldn't remember when she'd stopped crying, or even if she had, or if it were the rain dripping down her face now instead. She was angry. Very angry, and upset.

_How could I have been so stupid and naïve? _She kept asking herself again and again in her mind. _I was stupid enough to think he'd actually listen to me! _

Despite all that had happened between the two of them, Lily honestly thought that Severus would pay attention to her, that he would listen to what she had to say and realise he was making a mistake.

_And he'd called me … that… again… _Lily wrapped the sodden jacket around herself tighter. _After all he'd said before… 'It just slipped out'… Well, it obviously didn't just slip out this time, did it?!_

Lily was set. She knew what she now had to do. That was it; she was utterly done with Severus. No matter how 'done' she had been the first time, it was tripled now, quadrupled, even. He'd made himself very clear to her. If he wanted to go and join the dark forces, fine. As long as he stayed out of her way.

She also had to apologise to James. He'd walked out on her, be she didn't blame him. He was right to do so, in her opinion. Lily had actually been beginning to have a nice time with James – he seemed really different, kinder even, and she'd repayed him like she had.

That was were Lil was heading, once she'd reached Hogwarts. If he wasn't in the common room, she'd seek him out to apologise, even if it took all night.

When she entered the common room, dripping rainwater behind her, he was sat alone on a sofa by the fire, flicking lazily through a book. Lily assumed his friends were still in the village.

"I'm really sorry," she said quietly as she timidly sat down on the edge of the sofa. James glanced sideways at her but didn't say anything.

"I was… stupid," she went on. "I just thought… I thought he'd listen to me."

James remained silent.

"I'm really sorry for running out on you. You were being really nice and… I just kind of…"

"Fucked up," James finished for her, and she gave a small nod.

"I understand if you hate me," Lily said in a small voice.

James sighed and closed his book. "I always thought you were just playing hard to get, you know? It turns out you're just a bit stupid."

Lily frowned but didn't argue.

"I can't believe you still care about that prick after what he did. I mean, even after you found out what he was planning to do, you still ran after him," he said agitatedly.

"I won't be doing it again. Ever," she muttered.

"Oh, did it not go how you'd hoped?" James asked her bitterly.

Lily didn't answer and looked away from him, a little ashamed. _No, it didn't. Now I look like such a fool. _

James suddenly sat upright and stared intently at her. "What did he do?" he asked sharply. "You look exactly how you looked when he called you m- you know, the first time."

"He didn't _do _anything. He left not long after you did," she quietly told him.

"Fine, so what did he say?" James said impatiently.

Lily couldn't bring herself to say it. It was the look in her eyes gave it away.

"That fucking bastard," James growled and he shot up, heading for the portrait hole.

Panicking, Lily went after him, grabbing his sleeve, trying to make him stop. "Please – please don't, just – It's just a word, don't-" He glared at her and she said quickly, "I'm not defending him! I just don't think it's safe to - well, now we know what kind of person he aspires to be – I just don't think it's _safe…"_

James stopped and turned to her, an odd smile on his face. "Are you worried what might happen to me?"

She let go of his sleeve. "I – well I just – you don't know what he might do…" He grinned. "No – stop it, I didn't mean… just… James, please don't go after him."

"That's the first time you've called me James," he said softly. "Usually it's just 'leave me alone, Potter', 'you're so handsome, Potter'…" he put on an irritating falsetto voice.

"I don't talk like that," she said. "Just please, don't go after Severus."

James sighed and said, "Fine, I'll leave Snivellous alone on one condition."

"Yes, fine. What?"

"You still owe me half a date. You ran out on me. Now you sort of… double owe me."

"Do you not know when to give up?" Lily asked, dismayed. "It's kind of off-putting that you're so desperate."

"I'm only desperate for you," he winked and Lily suppressed a noise of disgust at such a cheesy line.

"You're not mad at me?"

"Yeah, I am," he said thoughtfully, "But you still owe me."

Making a mental note to never end up indebted to James Potter again, Lily said, "Well fine, whatever. It's too late to go back to Hogsmeade."

He grinned. "That's fine, you can just have dinner with me now. Come on, I'm starving."

When they arrived in the Great Hall, Lily purposely lagging behind, James headed over to his friends who were already present.

"We literally just got back," Sirius said, "Right as dinner started. Good timing or what?"

"Fantastic," James grinned at his friends. "Oh, we have uh, a guest joining us this evening," he added, reverting back to his gentlemanly manner he'd used earlier that day.

The three boys looked over James' shoulder and saw Lily stood there lamely, once again feeling intimidated by the group of boys smiling at her.

"You aren't really dressed for such a grand dinner," Sirius smirked as he moved along the bench, making room for Lily and James. Lily looked down at herself and realised she was still wearing James' damp jacket, sleeves hanging past her hands.

"Shut up," James said and gestured Lily to sit beside him, which she did reluctantly.

Remus smiled kindly at her and poured her a glass of water. "You finally gave in then?" he asked, and Lily smiled awkwardly. "You're finally dating James Potter?"

"I'm not dating him," Lily said quickly. "It was one date. A favour, that's all." She daren't look at James because she knew he was thinking along the same lines as Remus, and as tempting as it was she didn't want to show him up badly in front of his friends.

James didn't seem bothered by her comment, however. "Well, _for now,"_ he beamed.

"Oh, look who it is," Sirius suddenly said in an angry voice.

Lily looked over her shoulder in the direction Sirius was glaring and saw Severus walk into the hall with Avery. She felt James shift uncomfortably beside her and when she looked up at him he wore an expression of great annoyance.

"Don't worry," he said flatly, before Lily could open her mouth. "I'm not going to get up and punch his face in."

"If you won't, I will," Sirius said to James as he put don't his fork.

"No, please – don't – just ignore him, please…" Lily said urgently, drawing perplexed expressions from the others.

Sirius looked from Lily's desperate face to James' and said slowly, 'What's going on?'

After a moment's silence, James briefly explained what they'd over heard, Lily quietly telling them about her conversation with him.

"…And you won't let James kick the shit out of him?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"No – I just… I don't want anyone to get into trouble…" Lily mumbled.

"But… whether you want it or not, I really think Dumbledore should know that his students are planning to join _him," _Remus said, frowning. "It's not safe for everyone else… You and I are prefects, Lily, it's dangerous to let them continue…"

"Well whatever, but whatever you do, leave me out of it," Lily grumbled.

An hour later, Lily told them others, "I'm going to bed now, thanks for … uh… having me."

The boys all said their 'not at all's and 'it was a pleasure's, and James got out of his seat after Lily did.

"Uh… I'm sure I can get up to the common room by myself, thanks," Lily said as she made to leave, but James followed nonetheless.

"That wasn't so bad, was it," James said as he reached her side in the entrance hall.

"Why are you still following me?" she asked.

"I'm not _following _you, I'm… escorting you," James said.

Lily scoffed. "No thanks."

"No need to be rude," James muttered.

"Look, no offence Potter - "

"Oh, we're back to 'Potter', now, are we?"

"Whatever – no offence, I'm really grateful for you helping me the other night, but I kept to my word and went on a date with you… You'd said you'd leave me alone." She sighed. "I'm going to bed." Lily turned and continued on her way up the staircase, leaving James stood awkwardly in the entrance hall.

_Fine, _James thought and smiled cheekily to himself, _I knew it wouldn't be _that _easy to win you over, but you just wait, Miss Evans… We'll see. _

* * *

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello! Here's another chapter. I've only just noticed that for some reason, this website doesn't post the '-' I put in between different parts, so sorry if previous chapters seemed Lily they jumped between parts really abruptly. I've sorted it now. And also I just wanted to say that whilst he's not mentioned or doesn't have any speaking parts, Peter Pettigrew is in this fic, but I really hate him as a character and haven't found a good role for him yet. Okay, happy reading!**

* * *

On Monday, Lily found herself walking to Charms again. She'd not heard from James since Saturday evening and was surprised to see him already seated when she arrived at the classroom.

Out of habit and politeness, she muttered a quick 'hello', which he seemingly ignored. Frowning, Lily sat and took out her equipment; this was most uncharacteristic of James. Choosing not to question the matter, Lily remained silent.

Halfway through the lesson, when the class were busy practising silencing charms, Lily glanced at James. He'd still not said a word to her, and she was confused. He'd said he was mad at her, but he still invited her to dinner and was perfectly chatty then. Was he mad at something else?

Usually Lily would welcome his silence, but after spending time with him over the weekend it was quite bizarre for him to be so reserved. She felt it was a little ironic that he'd kept so quiet whilst they were studying silencing spells.

When the bell rang for break, James packed away his things quickly and left before Lily had even noticed.

After break she headed to Transfiguration, and was again surprised that James was already present.

Putting down her bag, she said to him, "What's going on? You're never this early for a lesson."

James grunted in response.

"Or this quiet," she added, but he didn't reply.

James didn't utter a word for the entire lesson, and even in Potions he kept quiet. He didn't even comment on the fact that Severus was finally present in the lesson.

Whilst waiting for her potion to simmer, she was cautiously watching James brew his own.

"Is that the Draught of Living Dead?" she asked. "You need to stir it twice," she offered.

He didn't acknowledge her but gave his potion another stir as she'd said.

Lily scowled at him and said sarcastically, "You're welcome," which he ignored also.

"What's your problem?!" she blurted out suddenly, frustrated. "What are you sulking about?"

He didn't reply but looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Oh, you're ignoring me are you? Giving me the silent treatment?" she scoffed, and he turned back to his cauldron. "Fine," she muttered, "That suits me just fine."

Her life really would be more peaceful without James constantly babbling and pestering her, but how he was acting now was really annoying. What had she done now? If he had a reason for acting like this then fine, but otherwise she was going to be really irritated.

"Why are you being so childish?" she hissed at him, temper rising. "If you aren't going to tell me what I've done then just stop it."

James tried to hide his smile but Lily wasn't fooled.

"And now you're laughing at me!" she cried, getting madder by the minute.

James smiled again, obviously this time, but didn't say anything.

Lily huffed and chose to rise above it, and got on with her work. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction that he'd annoyed her.

* * *

For the entire week, James continued in this way and by Friday Lily was extremely frustrated and confused. She almost considered not going to meet James for his extra Charms tutoring, seeing as he'd ignored her all week, but it was her duty to at least check. If he wasn't there then that was his fault.

She pushed open the classroom door a little and poked her head around it, and there James was, like usual, leaning on a desk playing with his snitch.

"I was in half a mind to not bother coming," Lily sighed as she pulled out her stuff. They'd practised strengthening charms last week, as James as asked, and that's what Lily planned to do this evening.

James walked over and bluntly said, "I suppose I can't now," and pulled around a chair so that he was sitting opposite her.

She raised an eyebrow, unamused. "Fine."

She took a breath and opened the book to the correct page. "Last week you read and studied the charm so I think this week you can practise it properly," she said in an authoritative tone.

Without even nodding, James pulled the book over and quickly re read the section on the incantation and wand movement as Lily headed over to the teacher's desk.

When they'd practised this in lesson, they'd used a thin metal chain, which they'd first looped around their wrist and then strengthened before casing _diffindo _on it and trying again. Flitwick had said that it was better to practise the spell this way because the chain would already be used to the magic from the bonding charm, and therefore easier to strengthen with magic. They'd also be able to practise to charms at the same time, which was quite efficient.

After rummaging around in some drawers, Lily found a piece of the chain and brought it to James. She briefly explained to him what it was for and he began practising.

After a few minutes Lily remembered that James had said he needed help with strengthening charms, and so she concentrated on what he was doing and sure enough, he seemed to be struggling.

"You might not be talking to me but it doesn't mean you have to cast everything non-verbally," she snapped. "Say it out loud, it's easier when you first do it."

James did as she said but still seemed to be having some difficulty. She sighed and pulled out her wand, pointed it at the chain and watched it lengthen to roughly three feet long, before demonstrating the spell to James.

"It's really not so hard," she said, draping the other end of the chain over her wrist. She cast the bonding spell and it looped around her wrist seamlessly, and then she muttered "_relligo" _before the chain glowed a deep purple.

"See," she said simply, leaning over the desk. "Look, it says here," she pointed to a paragraph in the spell book, "it's a _loose _hand movement, you've got to - "

"What does this one do?" James interrupted, seemingly just pondering out loud rather than asking Lily directly. He tapped the chain on his end and said "inviolabilis!"

This time the chain glowed a bright blue and Lily's mouth dropped open.

"Why – what – _why did you do that?!" _she hissed, beside herself.

James looked confused. "I – what does - "

"You _idiot,_" she howled. "I didn't even have time to – oh my god," she held up her wrist which had one end of the chain attached to it – James was still attached to the other end. She hadn't had a chance to remove it before James continued practising.

"I don't know what I did!" James said, looking worried at Lily's furious expression.

"That - this spell – the inviolabilis charm is like – Well, didn't you read it before you cast it!?"

James went pink and slowly shook his head, and Lily let out a noise of pure annoyance.

"It's like an extra-extra strengthening spell," she cried.

"C-can't you just cast _diffindo?"_ James asked, panicking more by the second.

"No, you idiot, look!" she cast the spell, the chain glowed blue again but nothing else happened. "For crying out loud! Come on."

She got up and headed to the door, tugging James behind her.

"W-where are we going?" James asked.

"To find Flitwick, you idiot, he's the charms master - he must be able to fix this."

She stormed to the staffroom, James jogging slightly took keep up. Lily rapped sharply on the door and a moment later, Professor Slughorn opened it.

"I need to speak to Professor Flitwick," she said sharply and added "please" at Slughorn's expression. He closed the door slightly and disappeared back inside.

Lily then turned to James. "Are you purposely trying to piss me off?!" she hissed. "You ignore me for no reason all week and now you go and do _this," _she held up her wrist.

"I – I just – I didn't mean for this to happen," James spluttered, "I was just trying to - "

The staffroom door reopened and Flitwick appeared.

"Yes? What's going on?" he asked as he caught sight of the thin strand of metal glinting in the light.

"Professor, I was helping Potter with strengthening charms, and… this _buffoon _cast the inviolabilis charm without reading about it!"

Flitwick's eyes widened and he shook his head. "Oh my," he said quietly, inspecting the chain.

"We were hoping you'd be able to help," Lily said, exasperated.

Flitwick began murmuring under his breath, tapping the chain numerous times but to no avail. Finally he shook his head solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans – Mr Potter… there's no spell to undo this," he said. "That's what the spell is designed for… Long lasting strength for an object... Maybe if you'd used your common sense, boy!" he rapped James hard on the kneecap with his knuckles.

"But, no, I can't be – how long will it last, Professor?" Lily asked desperately.

"Well, that all depends… Was this your first time casting that spell?" he shot at James, who nodded. "Then you may be in luck. It's advanced magic, and a first-time cast should only last a short while to fizzle out," he said.

"H-how long is a short while?" Lily asked in utter disbelief that her luck could be this bad.

"No longer than twenty four hours or so, I should think."

Suddenly, James blurted out, "But sir – It's Quidditch tomorrow! How do you expect me to - "

"You should have thought about that before you acted so foolishly," Flitwick said hotly, and then disappeared back into the staffroom, leaving Lily and James stood alone in the corridor.

"This can't be happening," Lily said to herself.

"If anyone's worse of in this situation, it's me!" James cried at her, "I'm Quidditch captain – I've got to play tomorrow - "

"Will you shut up for once about yourself?!" Lily shouted. "You aren't the only one this has affected!"

They glared at each other in silence, and then James spoke again.

"I suppose we should be heading up to the common room – I was _supposed _to be having an early night but I guess I don't need to anymore…"

"Uh, excuse me," Lily snapped at him, having no choice but to follow him out of the corridor and up the staircase, "Don't complain to me when it's your own fault we're in this mess!"

* * *

The common room was fairly lively when they entered, much to Lily's annoyance. She tried her best to hide the chain from other people's view but it was harder than she thought. Not wanting to attract any attention, she told James, "I'm going to bed."

"Wha – no! You can't!" James said, indicating their wrists.

Lily's stomach dropped. "I'm certainly not sleeping in your dormitory," she scoffed.

"Well I'm not sleeping in yours!"

"How on earth am I going to get changed," Lily muttered – it was definitely something she didn't want to do in front of James.

"I guess we'll have to sleep down here then," James said glumly.

Lily angrily agreed, annoyed that they'd have to wait until the common room emptied before they could get some rest.

They had no choice but to sit beside one another whilst they waited.

"So, why _have _you been ignoring me?" Lily asked, having nothing else to say.

James sighed and then said, "Just wanted to see if you'd miss me."

Her mouth fell open, aghast.

"Well, judging by how annoyed you've been all week, it worked," James went on, smiling at Lily's expression.

"Of course I didn't miss – I was just wondering if it was something I'd done!"

"Yoouu missed meeeee," James taunted, and she punched him in the arm.

"No I didn't," Lily scoffed, realising that he was quite possibly right. But why? _Why _had she missed him? He was irritating, she wouldn't miss that…

* * *

**Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I feel so efficient that I'm managing to update almost daily, go me! This is a bit of a long one, enjoy!**

* * *

Lily awoke with an aching pain on the left side of her head. She groggily opened her eyes and turned her head a little, then froze.

James was sat next to her, slumped on one end of the sofa with his face in the nook of his arm, and Lily's head was resting on his shoulder. She quickly sat bolt upright.

"Morning," he said cheekily, looking around at her. "You seemed very… comfortable."

She scowled at him and then yawned. She heard a slight tinkling sound as she stretched and then she remembered the tie around her wrist.

"How could I forget?" she muttered miserably to herself. "What time is it?" she added to James.

"Almost seven," he said. "Now that you're awake, I need to pee."

Lily narrowed her eyes slightly. "Great," she muttered.

As she waited outside for James, Lily realised how gross she felt. She was still in yesterday's robes and wouldn't be able to shower until she was free of James. Then suddenly she had an idea.

She dragged James up to her dormitory, then said sharply, "Turn around."

"Why?" James said, looking slowly around the room.

"Because I want to change my clothes, and if I catch you looking at me I'll hex your balls off," she said as threateningly as she could.

James rolled his eyes and turned his back, and Lily watched him for a few moments before turning around herself.

The chain was around her wrist, so she could at least change her underwear and trousers. As fast as she could, she pulled off yesterday's things and pulled on fresh underwear.

She had one leg in a pair of jeans when she heard, "Those are nice."

She whipped around, fast enough to see James quickly turn his back again. She scowled and hurriedly pulled on the other leg before hitting him hard on the back.

"I told you not to look!"

James just grinned. She hit him again.

"What?!" he grinned, rubbing his shoulder. "How could I resist?"

* * *

After they'd both used the bathroom with some amount of difficulty and managed to change (Lily had the decency to not peek, but James was right: it _was _tempting), they headed down to breakfast.

Lily shot him continuous dirty looks and tried to space herself from James at the table, but with only three feet of the chain, she couldn't move as far away as she'd liked.

"What are you sulking about?" she snapped at him as he picked at his breakfast sulkily.

He gave a dramatic sigh, and then something else seemed to have caught his eye. The Gryffindor Quidditch team had entered the hall.

"Oi, Prongs!" Sirius came running over, frowning. "What do you think you're doing? Why aren't you changed?"

Lily rolled her eyes as James began explaining about the accident the evening before, showing him the metal string.

"That's fine," Sirius shrugged. "Evans can just get on the back of your broom. _Can't _you?" he shot at her.

Lily hastily shook her head. "No way," she said, "that's dangerous, and I don't like flying that much."

"But James is the _captain,"_ he whined, but James shook his head.

"Forget it," he sighed. "At least I'll be able to play on the next game."

Lily rolled her eyes again. _How could boys be so worked up about a stupid game?_

"I'll come to brief the team before the game, but I'll guess I'll just have to watch from the stands," James murmured, still sulking.

"Excuse me," Lily interrupted, "What if I don't want to watch? What if I've got other things to do?"

"Well, _have _you?" Sirius asked, catching Lily off guard.

"Well, no - but that's not the - " she caught sight of James' distraught expression. "Oh, _fine,_" she said, folding her arms grumpily. "We'll go and watch."

James smiled gratefully at her and Sirius got up.

"I'd best be going then," he said, brushing down his jumper. "See you in ten?"

James nodded and resumed picking at his bacon. Lily put down her spoon.

"Look, I know you're upset that you can't play, but it's not _my _fault," Lily said, more kindly than she really felt. "If it's anyone's fault it's y - "

"Yes okay!" he snapped at her, pushing away his plate. "I know it's my fault. I fucked up okay? Stop going on about it."

Lily bit her lip. "Sorry," she mumbled.

After a brief meeting with the Quidditch team, they fought their way up to the Quidditch stands. A group of fifth years were playfully shoving each other on the stairs, and one accidentally shoved Lily, who almost fell backwards down the steps.

Luckily James was right behind her and managed to catch her under her arms and steadying her, before charging at the boy that had pushed her.

"What do you think you're doing, you piece of shit?!" he growled, "You could have hurt her!"

"I-I'm sorry," the boy spluttered, "I d-didn't mean to, it was an accident!"

Lily quickly pulled James away by his arm, tugging him further up the stairs.

"Thank you," she told him, "but you can't be so aggressive with everyone!"

"What?! What if you'd fell?!" James cried, outraged.

"But I didn't," she sighed. "It was an accident, he said sorry! I'm fine."

He sighed. "I'm just looking out for you."

They managed to find seats behind a gaggle of excited first years. James reverted back to his sullen expression.

"This is their first game," he said, nodding towards the first years. " And they won't get to see _me_ win."

Lily scoffed. "Ever heard the expression that there's no 'I' in team?" she asked.

"Well, I _am _the best player, or one of them, anyway. At least Sirius is still playing."

"How come he's on the team this year?" Lily asked him, "Why now and not last year?"

"Because I let him on the team," James said, smirking.

Lily frowned. "You're meant to select players based on ability, not on the fact that they're your best friend."

"He is a good player!" James said, "Last year's Captain was an idiot anyway, awful strategies. I asked him repeatedly to let Sirius join but he wouldn't."

When the game started, Lily saw that James was right. Sirius was pretty good. He was a chaser, the same as James, and had scored three goals before the first five minutes were even over.

It wasn't long before the other team, Ravenclaw, caught up. One of their players scored four goals in a row.

"Who's that?" Lily shouted to James over the chants and encouraging yells. "He's good!"

James glanced at her scathingly. "Don't you recognise him? It's your dear friend Mr Carter."

She frowned. "The boy from Charms?"

James nodded and Lily remembered that he'd introduced himself as the Ravenclaw captain.

"Anyway, don't go rooting for the opposite team," James told her, "Hey – look! The seeker's seen the snitch!" He jumped up and pushed forward past the first years, trying to get a better view, forgetting he was tethered to Lily and bringnig her lurching forward.

Moments later there was a deafening roar of cheers as the Gryffindor seeker rose higher, her arm in the air with the snitch's wings fluttering madly either side of her fist.

James was jumping around madly, cheering with the other Gryffindors and clapping like crazy. He hopped back over the seats to Lily and shook her shoulders.

"We won, we won!" He kept on yelling, "They did it without me!"

Still flapping around like a maniac, Lily couldn't help but laugh at him. She clapped along with the others but couldn't see how a game could make James so happy. It was quite comical.

James led the way down to the entrance of the Quidditch pitch where they waited for Sirius. When he came running out he practically launched himself on James, and they both began shouting, "we won, we won!" again.

"Party in the common room tonight," Sirius told them before hurrying back into the changing rooms.

Lily smiled but inwardly she didn't really feel like partying. She knew James would make her though, and she could only hope that this strengthening charm lasted twenty four hours, like Flitwick had said.

* * *

When they reached the entrance hall, they stopped by the door.

"So, uh… What are we going to do… you know, for the rest of the day?" James asked awkwardly. "Until this wears off…"

Lily shrugged. She had forgotten that she'd have to spend time literally attached to James.

"I, um… Well, I don't know," she said. "I was planning to get started on that potions essay, until - " she stopped as James rolled his eyes. "What?!"

"You're such a geek," James said, "Always doing homework on time, or you've got your head in a book…"

"It's not a _bad _thing," she said quietly. "And besides, I'm not _always _doing it! I just like to keep on top of things."

"As do I," James grinned and winked suggestively at her. She slapped him on the arm.

"Ouch! I was only joking," he gasped. "You're such a prude. I've got loads of bruises from you!"

"I'm not a prude," Lily grumbled as she dragged him to the library. "You're just…"

"Gorgeous? Handsome? Talented? Perfect in every way?"

"An idiot," she smiled sarcastically at him.

She headed to the back of the library, where the potions books were, and selected a few as James stood tapping his foot.

"Why do you have to do this essay _now?" _he moaned. "It's not due until Tuesday."

"I've got time now, so I'll do it now," she replied simply.

James sighed loudly as Lily summoned some parchment and a quill.

With James' frequent sighing and grumbling, Lily found it very difficult to concentrate. Eventually, she slammed down her quill.

"Will you please shut up?" she scolded him. She noticed he'd been doodling on a spare bit of parchment – it seemed to be a drawing of himself on a broomstick.

She rolled her eyes. "You aren't still moping about that, are you?" she asked. "It was one game, get over it."

"It was meant to be my first game as captain," he said glumly. "This was meant to be my year… Look how awful it's started out. You hate me and I missed my first match."

"I don't _hate_ you," she said sheepishly. "You're just an irritating prat…"

He smiled weakly at her, then put his head in his hand and resumed sulking.

Lily groaned. "Look, if there was something I could do, I would, but for now can you just - "

Suddenly, James sat bolt upright, eyes glinting mischievously. He then sprung up, grabbed Lily by the wrist and darted out of the Library.

"Hey – what are you – James, stop!" Lily cried, stomach dropping every time she skipped a step because James was walking so fast.

He eventually stopped at the entrance to the Quidditch grounds, then shot forward to a cupboard and took out a broomstick.

"W-what are you doing?" Lily panted. "Why did you do that?!"

"You said if there was anything you could do - "

"Oh no," Lily said, "No, I didn't mean - " She groaned in frustration.

"Just a quick lap around the pitch," he said enthusiastically, eyes glittering. "Come on, please!"

"Definitely not," she shook her head. "I told you, I don't like flying!"

"Well fine," James said. "I'll just get on and drag you along behind me. You'd better hope that his charm doesn't wear off…"

Lily scowled. "That's cruel."

"Then get on with me," James grinned. "Your choice."

Lily eyed the broomstick warily and then looked back at James.

"One lap?"

He nodded eagerly.

"You won't let me fall off?"

"Don't be stupid," he laughed.

"I'm only doing this because you're acting like such a child about this," she sighed, but James ignored her. He headed out onto the pitch and then mounted his broom.

"Get on then," he told her.

Lily closed her eyes briefly and mounted the broom behind James, leaving enough room between them so she could grip the handle.

"Ready?" James called from in front, and she nodded meekly, taking a deep breath.

James kicked off and hovered a few feet above the ground.

_This isn't so bad, _Lily thought, but then the broomstick shot forward. Terrified, she grabbed onto the closest thing for security, which happened to be James' shirt.

"Oh my god, ohmygod, ohmygod…" she kept muttering under her breath as James darted around the pitch.

"Slow down!" she cried, thumping James on the back, and he did. But then they began gaining height. "What are you doing?!"

James turned his head do the side so she could hear him better. "Hold on," he told her. "This is going to be fun!"

They suddenly were speeding to the ground from a great height, and Lily thought they were going to crash. James pulled up inches from the ground.

To her surprise, Lily had actually had enjoyed it and adrenaline was rushing through her veins.

"You're going to kill me," she half shrieked, half laughed at James, who chortled.

* * *

When James returned to the ground and touched down, Lily was still clinging to his shirt.

"You can let go of me now," he laughed at her and she quickly did, dismounting the broom.

Lily's heart was pounding.

"I feel so alive!" she burst out, and James grinned again.

"Now do you understand why I love flying?" he asked and she nodded vigorously.

"Scary though," she said.

"Well, I feel a little better about not playing earlier," James said contentedly.

As they headed back up to the castle, Lily said, "I didn't actually mean what I said earlier."

James looked at her.

"About doing something if I could," she clarified. "I was just saying it so you'd shut up."

"Oh," James flushed. "That's a bit awkward…"

Lily laughed. "It's fine. You didn't kill me so I guess I can forgive you this time."

The party in the common room had already begun when they got in.

"Prongs," Sirius ran to greet them, Remus behind him. "Where've you been? We thought you weren't coming!"

"Don't be stupid, I wouldn't miss it!" James laughed, hugging his friend. Lily smiled warmly at Remus and he smiled back.

"Did you see my amazing goals earlier?" Sirius asked, and he and James entered a deep discussion on what a great win it had been.

"Sirius told me about, uh… this," Remus said, gesturing the chain tethering the two.

Lily smiled. "Yeah, it's not ideal… It should weaken soon enough though. Hopefully, anyway."

"How are you putting up with him?" Remus muttered to her, grinning. "I know he's not the easiest person to deal with."

"Actually, you know," she turned her back on Sirius and James, "He's not as bad as I thought. I mean – don't get me wrong, he's still awful…" They both laughed.

"What are you two whispering about?" Sirius interjected, placing his hand on Remus' shoulder.

"James' big head," he smirked.

"How come we didn't see you at the match this morning?" James asked him, and then after a moment's silence they all exchanged the same dark look.

Then, noticing Lily's puzzled expression, he said, "Oh, just… tired. I slept in…"

"Come on," James said to Lily, "Let's go and get some food before Peter eats the lot…"

There was a table laid with various snacks and cakes, as well as bottles of butterbeer and firewhisky.

"Where did they get that?" Lily asked, pointing at the firewhisky.

"Seventh years always bring it from Hogsmeade," James shrugged. "Those that are of age, anyway."

"But you can't have that around! There are first years!" Lily exclaimed, and James chuckled.

"Don't worry," he said, "They put a charm on it so that only students above fourth year can drink it."

"That's still a bit young," Lily muttered.

"Oh, lay off," James said. "It's just a bit of fun."

A while later, when the common room was slowly emptying, Lily was getting annoyed.

"Stop tugging at that, will you?" James said to her, noticing her playing with the chain.

"Why hasn't it come off yet?" she whined. "Flitwick said twenty four hours…"

"Sick of me, are you?" James teased, grinning goofily.

"You stink," Lily said, "How many of those have you had?" She pointed to the bottle of firewhisky in his hand.

"I don't know, a few," he said, casually wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "How many of those have you had?"

"None," she said dryly, shrugging off his arm impatiently.

She looked around the room and saw Remus asleep in an armchair.

"Why's he always so tired?" she asked James. "He always looks like he's just fought a huge fight."

"Uh… Don't worry about it," James said, putting his arm around Lily again.

"Will you stop doing that?" she snapped, pushing him away again. She yawned, hoping everyone else would go to bed soon.

They sat down on the sofa beside Remus, and Sirius came to join them.

"Having fun?" he asked. James nodded, opening another bottle. Lily sulked.

"Finally getting to like our James?" he asked Lily, smirking. "Nah, we understand if you hate him. He can be a right prat." Lily smiled and James scowled.

"I reckon we should start packing up soon," Sirius went on, "It's getting late, we don't want McGonagall up here…"

He left, and James said, "So, why _do _you hate me?" James asked, his words starting to slur.

"You know why," she sighed.

"But you can't _still_ hate me," he said. "We've gotten to know each other so well recently…"

Lily scoffed. "Yeah, okay."

"Go out with me," he said to her.

_Not this again, _Lily thought. She just smiled weakly at him and didn't reply.

Then suddenly, James put his hand to her cheek. She turned her head, ready to scold him and push him away, but didn't get the chance. James quickly pressed his lips against hers, a small, chaste kiss, and then he just looked at her, grinning again.

Lily stared at him in disbelief, her brain rushing to comprehend what he'd just done.

She then brought her hand up swiftly to his face and smacked it across his cheek with so much force that the little thin chain attached to their wrists snapped.

Lily stormed out of the common room and up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, thankful she was finally free but both angry and confused about James' actions.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hello, thank you so much for your kind reviews! I've tried to update as soon as I could, juggling this and my other assignments, so I'm sorry if I've kept you waiting. This one is a little shorter, but please enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm really sorry."

It was Monday again, and Lily and James were back in Transfiguration. Lily couldn't bring herself to look at him; she didn't know if it was because of embarrassment or anger. In fact, she wasn't even sure _how _she felt at all_. _Any other time she would be livid at James for kissing her, but she was finding it strangely difficult.

"I'm an idiot, Lily… You know I am."

If anything, she'd actually liked it. It was just habit that she'd slapped him. Lily didn't know what it was… Why was she feeling like this now? It was extremely frustrating, seeing as she'd made a point of rejecting him for years. She'd just feel stupid giving in now.

"Just shut up about it," she said finally, pulling out another piece of parchment to continue her transfiguration essay.

"No, because then you'll just go on hating me and I'll - "

"I've already told you. I don't hate you," she sighed. "You're just incredibly annoying and dislikeable."

"I promise I'll never kiss you again without your permission," he smirked.

"Please can you just shut up about it," Lily mumbled, going red. Then she said haughtily, "And anyway, what makes you think I'll ever give you my permission?"

James gave a cheeky grin and went back to his work.

* * *

When Lily went down to dinner, she spotted her friend Mary MacDonald sitting alone. She'd barely spoken to her since the start of term but felt she should say hello and try to fix things up.

"Hey, Mary. Do you mind if I sit here?" Lily asked kindly, and her friend turned and nodded.

"What's happened to you Lily?" she asked. "We've barely spoken, you didn't answer any of my owls all summer…"

Noticing the annoyed tone in her friend's voice, Lily sighed. "I'm sorry. I was just… Well, it doesn't matter. I'm sorry if I've been neglecting you, Mary."

"Were you still upset about Snape?"

Lily briefly closed her eyes. "Please, Mary. That's the last thing I want to talk about."

Mary raised her eyebrows.

"Well, I won't say I told you so, but…" She jerked her head slightly to the side.

"Look, enough people have ridiculed me about that – Fine, I get it, I got him wrong. Please Mary, I'd rather just forget about it."

Mary smiled sympathetically. "Okay, Lils."

A while later, they had an unexpected guest. James entered and sat himself down opposite Lily and Mary without so much as a smile, and helped himself to pudding.

"Erm, what are you doing?" Lily asked him cautiously, growing annoyed as she felt herself go red.

James paused, serving spoon still in the air. "Eating dessert," he said in an obvious tone.

She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I can see that. Why are you sitting here?"

"Why not?"

"Where are _your _friends?"

James shrugged and helped himself to more trifle.

Lily got up, and pulled Mary by the arm. "Come on Mary, we're done anyway." Her friend looked at her, slightly amused, then got up too. "Good_bye,"_ she shot scathingly to James.

When they'd left the hall, Mary burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?" Lily asked, perplexed.

"What are you playing at?" Mary replied, "That guy, _James Potter, _he wants you Lily, and you're acting as oblivious as anything!"

Lily flushed.

"See," Mary went on, "You know it or you wouldn't be blushing like this!"

"Be serious, Mary," Lily tried to keep her voice calm, "You think after, what – four years of his pathetic chat up lines and showing off I've not caught on? He's just doing it for attention; it's just a stupid crush or something."

Mary snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

A voice in Lily's mind was saying the same thing. _You _know _he fancies the pants off of you... Why are you being so uptight?_

_Because he bullied my best friend_, Lily thought angrily.

_Didn't he deserve it in the end, though? James has only ever been there for you! Boys are stupid; they don't take the time to think about how their actions affect others. _

Lily smiled at herself. Well, that _was _true.

_When he treated Severus like that it was to impress you, he didn't realise you'd be upset. Like I said, stupid. _

_Yes, _Lily thought. _James was incredibly stupid._

"What are you thinking about?" Mary asked as they climbed the staircase. "Oh my god," she stopped. "You're thinking about him, aren't you?"

"Don't be stupid," Lily scoffed.

"How can you _not?" _Mary went on, "Every girl in this school is attracted to James Potter. Look at him, Lily. He's perfect. He's smart, incredibly good looking, god – his eyes… he's one of the most talented Quidditch players at Hogwarts…"

"Big deal…" Lily muttered, trying her utmost to drag her mind away from images of James. Mary was right, he _was _handsome…

_Stop it, _Lily told herself. _Don't be so ridiculous._

"Lily, he's been asked out by loads of girls, even_ I've_ asked him twice, and he flat out refuses. He refuses everyone, Lily. You know why that is?"

"Because he's gay?"

"Because he likes _you. _He doesn't want anyone else. No wonder half the girls here hate you, you're what's stopping them from getting it on with _him!"_

"P-people hate me?" Lily asked, shocked. "But- but I - "

"Oh shut up, not genuinely," Mary said, exasperated. "Lily… All I'm saying is that you need to suck up your own damn pride and just accept him, Christ."

"I – don't – like – James – Potter!" she hissed, flushing red again.

Just then, a voice calling Lily reached them. She turned around and saw the Ravenclaw captain, Adrian Carter, jogging up the staircase towards them.

"Hey – Lily," he caught up with them and took a moment to catch his breath. Lily smiled warmly, intrigued.

"Oh, um – hi," she said in a small voice.

"How are you?" he said casually, acknowledging Mary as well with a quick smile.

"Oh, um… fine. I, uh – I've not heard from you much in Transfiguration recently…" she said, almost in a babble.

He gave a charming smile. "I didn't want to intimidate your boyfriend."

"My – _Potter_?" Her eyes widened, and Mary gave her a smug smile. "He's not my boyfriend."

Adrian's eyes lit up. "Does he know that? Well, on that note – Slughorn's just caught me in the corridor – he's having a Halloween 'do, and I'd be delighted if you'd attend with me," he said rather smoothly. "That is – unless you'd rather go with Potter…"

"No," Lily said, a little too quickly. "No – I'd love to go with you."

He gave her a brilliant smile, which Lily couldn't help comparing with James'. She hated herself when she decided she preferred the latter's.

Carter then gave her a brief kiss on the cheek before quickly wishing the two goodnight and heading back down the stairs.

"Well, I guess Potter's got a little competition," Mary chuckled as they headed into their dormitory.

"Please shut up," Lily mumbled, and she climbed into bed, unsure whether to be pleased with herself or not.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hello! Next chapter is up!**

* * *

The weather became colder and colder as they entered October, and by the week before Slughorn's party, the rain was quickly turning to sleet and Lily knew it wouldn't be long before it turned to snow.

The weeks had passed uneventfully for Lily, James was being his usual would-be-charming self, and Lily had noticed that he'd not picked on any of the younger students in a while, and he'd not been boasting and showing off as much as usual. As for their tutoring sessions, Lily stuck to letting him read and re-read the passages several times before practising any spells. She made sure she kept well out of range as she didn't want a repeat of the little metal chain.

Adrian Carter had been a lot more talkative in their transfiguration lessons too – Lily assumed it was because she'd made it clear that she wasn't with James. Lily was glad that James hadn't found out about her accepting Adrian's invitation, but some feeling deep in her stomach made her uneasy about this and she couldn't figure out why.

It was in Wednesday's lesson that Adrian was leaning back on his chair talking to Lily again.

"Hey, what have you put down as the answer for question four, Lily?" he smiled at her and ignored James' cold glare.

"The Gemino curse," she smiled back, after checking her own paper.

"Thanks," he grinned. "You're looking very nice today," he added. "Radiant, in fact."

Lily flushed and James scowled as the other boy turned back around.

"Why do you never act like that when _I _give you a compliment?" James muttered, and Lily was a little taken aback.

"W-what do you mean?"

"How many times have I told you your hair looks nice, you look good, this and that, you know – I'm always telling you how beautiful I think you are and you always do that… _thing."_

Lily frowned. "What thing?"

"You know, when you…" James then rolled his eyes and sighed in a very dramatic manner, and then altered his voice and said in a very bored tone, "_Whatever, Potter_."

Lily gave a little giggle. "I don't do that!"

"You might as well do," James said, slumping onto the desk. "It's like what I think doesn't even matter to you."

Lily watched him cautiously. "Well I'm sorry," she said finally, "but all of your ridiculous chat up lines can get a little boring."

"Hey!" James sat back up again, "I put hours into thinking those up! And anyway, a compliment isn't ridiculous. I actually mean it. _He," _James nodded at the row in front, "Just wants to get into your knickers."

Lily flushed again. "No he doesn't," she hissed.

James raised his eyebrows in a very, 'are-you-sure-about-that' manner and went back to his paper.

* * *

At the end of the lesson, Lily lagged behind. She wanted to talk to Adrian without James being within earshot.

"Can't get enough of me, can you?" he smirked in a very James-like way.

"I just wanted to ask you something… privately," Lily said. "Um… would it be okay if you didn't mention in front of James that we're going to Slughorn's party together?"

"I haven't mentioned anything to him before," he frowned. "Why would I say something now?"

Lily relaxed a little. "Okay, good. It's just, I don't think he'd take it very well, you know…"

"I thought you said you weren't going out with him?" Adrian asked as they both left the classroom.

"No – no, I'm not," she replied hastily, feeling slightly guilty, "I just… Just please can we keep it quiet?"

"Of course," he said. "Uh, hey – I'm going to the library, want to come with?"

Surprised, Lily agreed. She figured it'd be better to get to know him a little better if she was to be attending a party as his date.

The two students were seated at in the library, books and parchment spread over the table, when James walked into the library. He threw a brilliant smile at Lily but his expression turned cold when he saw who she was with.

"Lily," he said, somewhat excited. "I need to talk to you."

"What is it?" she sighed, putting her quill down.

James shot an annoyed glance at Adrian and then said harshly. "Could you give us a little privacy?"

The other boy began to get up but Lily put her hand on his wrist and he paused.

"Don't be an idiot, sit down," she said to him. "What do you want?" she turned back to James.

James went red and cleared his throat. "Come to Slughorn's party with me on Friday," he said.

This time Lily blushed.

"I can't."

"What?! Why not?" James cried, "I thought you liked me now!"

At Adrian's confused expression, Lily quickly said, "No, I'm just learning to put up with you. I can't go with you. I'm sorry."

"Why not?"

"Because… Because I'm already going with someone else."

There was a long silence, and then James said in a dull tone, "Him?"

Lily glanced over the table, and Adrian was slouching in his chair, looking rather smug.

"Don't you remember what I said to you the other week?" he said quietly to her, trying his best to avoid Adrian's gaze.

"I can look after myself," she hissed.

James scoffed. "Yeah. Okay," he muttered, and left looking either very angry or very hurt; Lily couldn't decide which.

* * *

The evening of the party arrived and Lily felt bad. Something was making her feel like she shouldn't be doing this – she shouldn't be at this party with Adrian. Rather, she should be there with James. But why?

_Why not? _The voice in her head was back again. _Admit it, he's sorted himself out, he's at least half decent now – why not?_

Lily tried to shake these thoughts away but they persisted. _Just admit it to yourself, you like him._

Even if she did like him, what could she do? She'd made it pretty clear to him that she didn't want to be with him, and now she was on a date with another boy. She'd pissed him off.

Lily was waiting for Adrian just inside the sixth floor corridor entrance. She was wearing a simple navy blue cocktail dress and matching shoes. She'd hoped it was enough because a lot of students tended to dress up a lot for Slughorn's parties.

"Damn," Adrian said as he arrived. "You look hot."

Lily gave a weak smile, thinking that she preferred being called beautiful to _hot. _

"Uh… thanks," she said quietly, and they headed into Slughorn's room.

There were already a lot of students already there, as well as a few other people that Lily didn't recognise. For a brief moment Lily thought she'd caught a glimpse of James' familiar, messy black hair, but she assumed she'd imagined it. James had too much pride to come by himself.

They mingled for a while, until Adrian said he needed to use the bathroom. Lily wandered through the crowd, hoping to find a refreshment table somewhere.

"Having fun?" a bitter voice behind her asked as she drank from a goblet of Butterbeer.

She looked around and sure enough it was James.

"What are you doing here?" she spluttered. "I thought - "

"There are plenty of other girls who want me," James said quietly. "What makes you think you're so special?"

Lily frowned. Yes, what _did _make her think that? _Four years of you pursuing me, perhaps?_

Just then, a very pretty girl with blonde curly hair and small blue eyes appeared at James' side.

"Honey, what are you doing? You just wandered off… Oh," the girl caught sight of Lily. She possessively slid one hand around James' waist and extended the other to Lily. "I don't think we've met properly," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "Katherine Beal, Hufflepuff."

"L-Lily Evans," she shook her hand nervously, looking at James with confusion.

"Yes, I know who you are," the other girl said in a would-be sweet tone, but Lily felt it was rather threatening.

"It's okay," James muttered to Katherine, who was still eyeing Lily. "I'll come back over in a moment."

She smiled at James and kissed him swiftly on the cheek before disappearing back into the crowd. Lily watched her until she vanished.

When she drew her gaze away, James was watching her intently.

"What was that?" Lily asked, exasperated.

"_That _was a very nice young lady who's finally been given her wish of dating me," James said haughtily.

Lily scoffed. "Are you trying to make me jealous?"

James narrowed his eyes. "Why? _Are_ you jealous?"

Lily shook her head slowly. "You shouldn't lead her on."

"Who says I'm leading her on?" James asked.

Lily didn't say anything.

"Fine," he said after a moment. "I just brought her to make you jealous – don't give me that look! That's exactly what you're doing to me with that Carter idiot!"

"No it's not," she snapped. "He asked me and I said yes, that's all."

"You said yes to him because you knew it would piss me off."

"Why would I want to piss you off?" Lily sighed, temper rising.

"Well, you tell me," he folded his arms. "For years now you've known how much I like you and you do nothing, and if you _really _don't like me, Lily, then why are you standing here talking to me now?"

Lily took a deep breath, attempting to keep her temper under control and prevent her face from going red.

"What do you want from me, James?"

"I want you to realise that we are meant to be together, Lily Evans. You've got to stop pretending that you hate me, and decide whether you want to know me or not."

Lily glared at him, heart beating fast.

"You're so arrogant," she managed to say at last.

Just then, Adrian appeared. "There you are – I've been looking for you, it's so crowded in here – oh." He noticed that James was standing there and Lily was still glaring at him. "Is, uh – is everything okay?" He wrapped his hand around Lily's waist in the same possessive way Katherine had done to James.

"I'll let you think about it," James said quietly to Lily and then shot Adrian an annoyed look before disappearing back into the gaggle of people.

"What's going on?" Adrian asked her, staring after James. "What did he want?"

"What? Oh – nothing, don't worry about it," she forced a smile.

"Do you wanna get outside? It's mad in here," he asked, and led her out of Slughorn's room and into the corridor outside where it was quieter and cooler.

"What's the matter? You seem really tense," he asked her.

"I'm fine," she mumbled. But she wasn't. She couldn't get what James had said out of her head. He was right but she still didn't want to admit it. She'd gotten to like him a lot more over the past few weeks and she couldn't deny that she was getting comfortable around him.

"Relax," he said, as he slipped his arm around her shoulder. Before she knew it his lips were on hers and he was kissing her. Lily tensed. She didn't want this – she didn't want him. She pushed him away.

"What are you doing?" she gasped, and he gave her a lazy grin.

"Just _relax,"_ he repeated, and he made to kiss her again, his hand trailing down to her breast. Lily heard a shout in the background but ignored it – she wasn't taking this crap. She pushed him away again with a lot more force and then brought her knee up to his crotch, hard.

James, the person she'd assumed had shouted (_who else would it be, _she thought) came running over.

"Don't," she shot at him, as he opened his mouth in outrage. "I told you I could take care of myself."

She turned on her heel and marched off down the corridor, James following.

"What did I tell you?!" he called after her. "I told you he'd try something!"

Lily ignored him.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he caught up with her.

"Perfectly fine, thank you."

He followed her in silence up to the Gryffindor common room.

"I'm going to bed," she told him before he could say anything else to her. She paused when she was halfway up the stairs and came back down. Luckily James was had collapsed into an armchair.

"What if I just wanted to be _friends_?" Lily asked him, making him jump.

"I – Wha – Friends?"

"That's 'knowing' you, right? That's what you said?"

"W – Yeah," James said, running his hand through his hair. "So we can be friends?"

"_Just _friends," Lily told him sincerely.

He nodded and Lily smiled, then turned and headed to bed.

"We'll get there in the end, though," James muttered to himself, smiling into the fireplace.

* * *

**Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hey, sorry this took a while to update. I'm just lazy. The main thing to say is that I've pretty much changed my whole writing style. I've switched to first person, purely because I think it flows better and I feel more comfortable writing this way. I feel it's made the writing a little better, but you might disagree. Well, whatever. I hope you stick and keep reading!**

* * *

It's bizarre. If someone had told me at the start of term that I'd been sitting having lunch at the marauders' table, I'd think they were mad. At the moment, I'm sat only with Remus. I think I like him the most out of James' friends, I guess it's because we're quite similar – quiet, bookish… He doesn't share my short temper though, which surprises me as he always looks so tired and stressed out. Poor guy.

He checks his watch. "James and Sirius should be back by now," he mutters, "I don't know how they can stand practising in this freezing weather."

I nod in agreement, glancing at the darkening sky outside, filled with thick grey clouds, ready to spit out buckets of snow any second. "It's Peter I don't get," I say. "At least the other two are moving around and getting warm. He's just sat in the stands, shivering like an idiot."

Remus smiles. "He likes to watch. I think it makes him feel… you know… part of it." We both chuckle quietly.

"Hey, you," I hear James' voice suddenly from behind me. "You've got food on your face."

"W-what?!" I exclaim, wiping my cheek frantically. "Where?!"

He sits down and picks up a floured bread roll. He tears a small piece off and pops it into his mouth. "There," he says, smirking as he gently brushes his index finger on the tip of my nose.

I can see the small dot of flour he's put on my nose and I frown. I quickly wipe it off and nudge him on the arm. "Don't do that," I scowl.

"Look at you two," Sirius sits down opposite James and I, Peter beside him. "Such an adorable couple."

I flush and then scowl. "We're just - "

"Friends, yeah, I know." Sirius rolls his eyes at me dramatically. Then he leans over to James, shaking his head solemnly whilst patting James' shoulder in mock condolence. "How are you taking the bad news, Prongs?"

"Friends is better than dirty looks and bruises," James chimes back, fluttering his eyelashes at Sirius and then at me. I've told them before – _please don't discuss this kind of thing in front of me._

It makes me feel so awkward and I suppose… a little guilty. But I've given James a chance, he's not so bad. What more could he want? I've been very reasonable - we're friends. But I can always see that tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes though when he drops one of his ridiculous chat up lines. It makes me wonder if I'm still being a little harsh.

"What's the agenda for this afternoon then?" Sirius asks, piling pie onto his plate.

"Dunno," James says through a mouthful of bread. "Hogsmeade? Head into Zonko's, maybe go for a drink?"

"You coming, Moony?"

"I don't see why not. I've got nothing else left to do before we head back tonight," Remus replies.

Sirius jerks his head towards me. "You?"

"Uuh…" I'm suddenly very aware that all four boys are watching me intently. "Um, no. I can't. Sorry."

"Why not?!" James whines beside me, genuinely disappointed. The last time I went into the village with these guys was awful. It was nonstop petty pranks and Quidditch talk.

"I, uh… I need to go and talk to Slughorn about the winter assignment," I say quietly, and everyone but Remus rolls their eyes. I hastily add, "Anyway, I thought you'd all want some… y'know, _guy time._ I don't want to… spoil the atmosphere." I give an awkward yet hopefully convincing smile.

After considering this, Sirius says, "Okay, great. Thanks."

James just sulks.

* * *

I really _do _need to talk to Slughorn, so I head down there after lunch when the boys left for Hogsmeade.

I raise my hand to knock on the Potions classroom door, but pause when I hear muffled voices from within. One's definitely Slughorn, the other…

My stomach drops. Severus.

I've not seen or spoken to him since that horrible event in the dingy alleyway in Hogsmeade. He really must hate me, because he's moved to the opposite side of the room in Potions. Does he hate me so much that he can't bear to sit near me? Or has he moved because he feels guilty? As much as I'd prefer the latter, I realise that I'm not supposed to care.

The door swings open and I'm suddenly face to face with him. Severus looks mildly surprised, then his eyes quickly avert my gaze and he hurries past me. I head into the classroom and clear my throat.

Slughorn turns around beams when he sees me.

"Lily! Hello!"

I smile in response.

"I didn't catch you at my Christmas 'do at the weekend," he says, somewhat disappointed. After the Halloween party, I've decided to steer clear of as many as these parties as possible. Mainly because my good old friend Mr Adrian Carter seems to attend every one.

Funny, that. Adrian's moved two desks in front in Transfiguration as well. As much as it pains me to admit it, James was pretty much right about him. He's not even looked at me since the party, so I guess Adrian doesn't take to kindly to a knee in his balls. Well, good riddance.

"No sir," I give my sweetest smile. "I've just had so much homework due in, I couldn't possibly forget about it whilst enjoying myself at one of your lovely parties. I'm sure you understand." I smile again.

"Of course, of course," he waves his hand dismissively. "Now, to what do I owe the honour of your visit?"

I begin to ask him the handful of questions I have about the essay he's set to do over Christmas. When we're done, we wish each other a happy Christmas and I leave the classroom.

As I leave, I turn the sharp corner that leads to the stairs, and for the second time find myself face to face with Severus. In the moment of surprise, I take in his altered features.

He's aged somewhat. I don't mean _matured_, but physically aged. He looks like someone working under an impossible deadline – dark under eye bags, an unusual pallor to his face, hair unkempt and sticking out everywhere… On top of that, a bruised cheekbone, scarred lip, cut knuckles and torn robes.

Has this really what my dear old ex-best friend has become?

"S-sorry," he mutters, barely audible. He's still refusing to look at me.

I don't reply. I don't move. All I can do is observe this boy with what I can only call pity. I know I shouldn't. Maybe I should be feeling smug or satisfied - he's getting what he deserves for his actions. A sort of, 'I told you so' reaction. But no, I can't.

"Can't you just push past? Surely you wouldn't let a pathetic _mudblood _like me get in your way." Suddenly the pity is gone. I can almost taste the bitterness in my voice. Well, can you blame me? I'm only using his words.

Still, he doesn't look up. I notice that he's tensed. I roll my eyes.

"Fine," I mutter, and I push past him. I haven't got time to be playing games like this.

As I reach the top of the stairs, I think I hear an echo of "Sorry" for the second time.

I stop. Have I imagined it? Probably. But then again, maybe not. I don't care either way, but I wish this horrible pang in my stomach would realise that.

* * *

My trunk is packed and I'm excited to be heading home for Christmas. I'm even looking forward to seeing grumpy old Tuney.

James, Sirius and Peter are playing cards. Remus is asleep with a book sliding out of his grip. I close my own book and look out of the window. We're here, back in London.

The others pack away their stuff and I gently shake Remus awake. I wonder how he'll be spending his Christmas… hopefully he'll spend most of it asleep. God knows he needs it.

James pulls down my trunk from the shelf above the seats and I hastily mutter my thanks. As the others pile out onto the platform, he grips my arm and holds me back.

"What?" I ask him, and then I'm surprised when he actually blushes.

"I, uh… After Christmas, everyone usually comes to mine." He tells me.

I raise my eyebrows.

"You know," he continues, "Just to get together, have some fun…"

"So…?"

"_So_," he goes on, and I can tell his getting more flustered by the moment. "So I'm asking if you want to come."

I grin, not because of what he's asking, but because he's so embarrassed. It's most unlike James. Kind of sweet, actually.

"I'll, erm, have to talk to my parents," I said as vaguely as I can, trying to seem indifferent. I pick up my trunk and drag it down the aisle and onto the platform, James tailing behind me.

* * *

**Please review! Let me know if you like or hate my writing style change. (sorry if you hate it)**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hello all! Next chapter is up!**

* * *

I love Christmas. The decorations, the atmosphere… just everything about it. I'm so wrapped up in the celebrations that I am surprised when a handsome tawny owl arrives three days after Christmas. It's odd because it's quite rare for me to receive owl post at home, even with my being a witch and all. I guess I never had any real need for it before because my best friend only lived around the corner.

I quickly open the kitchen window and the large owl hops in and drops the letter on the table. I hold open the window so that the bird can leave but it doesn't. It stays perched on the table and stares at me. I frown and then pick up the letter.

_Lily, _it begins. I recognise James' handwriting straight away. After seeing it in lesson every single day it's hard not to recognise it.

_Lily,  
Hope you had a nice Christmas and everything. Just wondering what day you want to come over to ours. Let me know and I'll come get you. See you soon.  
James_

Oh, so that's why the owl's still here. I frown. I'd completely forgotten that James had even asked me to go and I haven't actually told him I'd definitely be going. I'm not entirely sure whether or not I even want to go.

I think about it for a moment. I guess it'd be nice to go and see where James grew up, maybe meet his parents. Perhaps I'd be able to figure out what's made him so big headed and arrogant. I wouldn't mind seeing everyone either, as much as I hate to admit it. It is pretty lonely here at home; even Tuney is locking herself in her bedroom when she's not out with her new boyfriend – who, I might add, is rather rude.

I sigh, rolling my eyes at my defeat. I grab a biro from next to the phone and quickly scribble on the reverse side of James' note. _I'm ready whenever you are. Merry Christmas and everything to you too. _

I give the letter back to the owl and it gracefully swoops off out of the window and into the grey morning.

Around midday, the owl's back with a fresh piece of parchment.

_Cokeworth train station at 3.30pm. Bring your stuff. We'll go straight from mine back to school. _

Again, I frown. I'm not sure I want to be staying with James and his friends for three days. The remainder of the Christmas holiday might be the only bit of peace I get until summer.

My school trunk is already packed, but I throw together a small carry case with a few extra clothes and bits and bobs. At three-twenty, I drag my stuff down to the train station. Am I going to be catching a train? Where does James live, anyway? I decide to take a seat just outside the station, and I wait.

* * *

At three-thirty on the dot, a violently purple triple-decker bus pulls up in front of the station, almost knocking me off the little bench in shock. I stare around wildly, looking for muggles. Luckily, there's no one about.

A small, wrinkled creature, which I immediately recognise as a house-elf, appears at the bus door and hops down to greet me.

"Miss Lily?" it asks in a squeaky voice, and I nod cautiously. "I is Dotty, the Potters' house elf."

"H-hi," I stutter. I wasn't expecting this. I'm sure James said he'd come and get me himself.

"Master James has sent me to collect you, miss," she squeaks, and an elderly man in a matching purple uniform appears behind her. He takes my trunk and bag and pulls them onto the bus, and I follow. I take a seat, trying to ignore the strong scent of cats.

Ten minutes later, when I finally assume I'm not going to vomit, I turn to the house elf.

"Couldn't James come?" I ask.

"Ah, Master James is busy, miss," she squeaks.

"Doing what?" I say.

"He is cooking with Masters Sirius and Remus," Dotty replies. I actually laugh out loud. James? Cooking?

I rest my head against the window, having given up trying to look at the scenery, which is speeding past so quickly it's making me dizzy. So, James has got a house elf. I thought only the oldest and richest pure blooded families had elves.

I know James is pureblood of course, and wealthy, but… Just how high status is his family? Suddenly I feel very nervous.

I feel a tugging at my elbow.

"We is here, miss," Dotty tells me, and she slides down off of the seat. She pulls out a few coins out of the tatty apron she's wearing and hands them to the conductor, who heaves my stuff out behind us. I turn to thank him, but the bus is already out of sight.

"Right this way, miss."

Dotty leads me up a narrow country path, and then we approach the Potters' house. Well, I say house. Perhaps mansion or manor would be a better term to use. It's enormous. Stupidly, over the top, unnecessarily huge.

The house elf holds open an elegant iron gate and I walk in, heading up the driveway. The lawns are perfectly manicured and the hedges impeccably pruned.

"I shall take your belongings upstairs now, miss Lily," Dotty squeaks, and in a second she and my trunk have vanished with a faint _crack. _

I turn to the front door, which is also ridiculously big and somewhat threatening. Black and shiny, which a heavily polished doorknob and knocker. I still can't help feeling nervous. I take a deep breath and knock three times.

Suddenly, the door springs open and James, Sirius and Remus are all standing before me, grinning wildly and wearing paper hats. It's quite unnerving.

A chorus of "Lily! – Merry Christmas! – How are you?! – Come in!" blasts me in the face and I'm dragged inside.

The inside of the Potters' house is much nicer and more muted. It's not as extravagant as I'd expected, and pretty much looks like any regular house with the addition of various paintings of medieval figures and the strong smell of wood and polish in the air.

"Hi," I manage to finally say, a little breathless. Everyone's beaming at me. I feel very much out of my depth.

The boys seem to realise this as James then clears his throat and says, "Er… Do you want me to take your coat?" and Remus leads me into the sitting room.

"Good Christmas?" Sirius asks me, and I nod.

"Pretty good, yeah. Yours?"

"Excellent," Sirius replies. "It's just been me, Remus and the Potters, all cozied up here."

"Don't your parents mind?" I ask. "I mean, wouldn't you rather spend time with your own families?"

The three exchange a look and then begin laughing. After a moment, James says, "Yes, I'm sure Sirius'd rather spend two weeks with his charming family."

At my puzzled expression, Sirius elaborates. "My parents hate me. They've practically disowned me so I've ran away. I've been staying here since summer – when we aren't at school, obviously."

Oh. I'd have never have thought. I know that Sirius comes from an old pure blood family too, but that was about the extent of my knowledge.

"They're dark wizards," he goes on. "All Slytherins. I suppose I'm the only one with a bit of good in me, and they don't like that. They don't like _different."_

"Oh," I say quietly. "What about your parents, Remus? Don't they mind?" Somehow I can't imagine Remus coming from a family of dark wizards.

"Travelling," he says. "They were going to come home for Christmas but… I told them not to bother, it's too much hassle. They're in Argentina or something. They knew I'd be alright here."

I nod, feeling a bit better that I finally know a little more about these guys than before. Sirius isn't just the cheeky ladies-man. Remus isn't neglected; he's just tired all the time... Or something.

James sniffs and then jumps up, heading out of the room. Again, reading my confused face, the others come to my aid.

"James has been _baking,_" Remus tells me scathingly whilst Sirius chuckles.

"He's trying to impress you," Sirius adds as he too gets up and heads out of the room after James. I feel my face redden.

They're back a while later with an ornate plate piled high with cookies. They smell really good.

"Y-you made these?" I ask uneasily.

"Doesn't seem the type, does he?" Remus smiles.

"Excuse me," James says indignantly, "I'll have you know I'm very skilled with a whisk and flour."

This time, I laugh. "You?!" I scoff. He throws me a scathing smile before offering me the plate. They taste as good as they smell. If this is what James is willing to do to impress me, he can carry on, no problem. These cookies are amazing.

* * *

As night falls, James lights a fire and I fold up my legs on one of the large, velvet sofas. I listen to the others chat about various things and I realise I'm actually pretty comfortable like this. I don't mean on the sofa, but in this company, with these people. I guess they're all my friends now. It's odd to think at the start of term I resented James and was intimidated by the others. Well, James has yet to completely to win me over. He's still growing on me.

A sharp and flustered voice interrupts the low hum of chatter.

"James, have you seen Dotty? I can't find that blasted elf anywhere!"

A woman enters the room. Even in her advanced age, she's beautiful. I can only image what a beauty she was in her younger years. She shares James' jet black hair, although hers is mixed with sliver strands. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is Mrs Potter – James' mother.

"Oh," Mrs Potter stops in her tracks and he eyes fall upon me. My nerves have returned. "You must be Miss Evans," she says, and I can't quite place my finger on her tone of voice.

"Lily," I correct her as I nod. I don't know what I'm meant to do. Should I get up and shake her hand? Curtsey? I've no idea how to act in front of her and I'm not sure how she's used to being treated by others.

Obviously I've done something wrong, because I can now recognise her tone as cold and she narrows her eyes. "You're the muggleborn."

At first I think it's a question, but then I realise it's a statement.

"Mother…" James begins, but Mrs Potter holds up her hand.

"Well, I _do _hope you enjoy your stay here," she says, and I feel less and less welcome by the second. "And I hope James will teach you about us _proper _magical people."

"_Mother," _James repeats firmly, glaring at her. Mrs Potter simply wrinkles her nose and casts me a look of disgust before leaving. I'm speechless.

"I'm sorry," James says to me, after a long bout of silence. "I didn't think she'd behave like this."

I say nothing and James moves over to sit beside me.

"I told you before… my parents – they're old fashioned. I mean, well, you know – they're just…"

"James mate," Sirius says quietly, "to be fair, you're mum can be a bit, well, you know what I mean…"

He nods. "Lily – don't listen to her. She's just – Well, wait until you meet my dad. He's much nicer. You'll like him."

I think back to our 'date' in the Three Broomsticks, when James had told me about his parents. 'Not big on muggleborns', I'd said. Well, I guess I was sort of right.

I force a smile. "Well, at least it's pretty clear why _you're _so rude."

James gives me a smile of relief as the others chuckle, but I still can't help feeling like I'm in deep water. This was meant to be a fun couple of days but now I think I'm going to feel constantly threatened.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Mr Potter, with his plump stomach and warm smile, is almost the complete opposite of Mrs Potter. James was right, I do like him.

When he greets me, shortly before I'm heading to bed, he's very friendly and welcoming.

"James has told me all about you," he beams, "You've become quite the little pair, haven't you? I'm sure you're lovely and you'll be an excellent friend to James."

I blush, and I guess it won't be for the last time during my stay.

Dotty is leading me up to my bedroom for the duration of my stay. "Master James has asked me 'specially to prepare this room for you, miss. It's our biggest guest room."

The room is lovely; again, stupidly oversized, but very homely and cosy. The bed could probably fit me and Tuney, as well as my parents with loads of room to spare. I head over to a dresser, which stands beside my trunk and small case. I pull out some pyjamas and get changed before jumping into the bed. It's so warm and comfortable that I'm asleep in seconds, which is lucky because otherwise I'm sure I'd be awake until the early hours, thinking about everything.

When I wake up the next morning, it's early. I lay awake for an hour or so before I decide I'd better get up. I pull on a cardigan over my pyjamas and head downstairs, trying not to get lost in the long corridors. There's a dim light coming from the sitting room we'd occupied the night before, and I head in there.

James and Remus take up a sofa. Remus looks as tired as ever, a dim grey tinge to his skin. James smiles when he sees me standing in the doorway.

"Well, that's a nice treat so early in the morning," he grins. "Don't let my mother see you."

It takes me a while to realise what he's talking about until I realise the reason why I'm so cold. My pyjamas consist of a top and some rather short shorts. I pull the hem of my cardigan down as low as it will go, but it's pointless.

"Lovely set of legs," he winks at me, and I flush. "Want a drink?"

I blush and then nod, and I follow him into the kitchen. He puts on the kettle and begins clattering around in cupboards for mugs and teaspoons.

"Aren't you going to use magic?" I ask.

I've always wondered what it'd be like to come from a wizarding family. I'd read that the Ministry can't actually punish you for using underage magic as it's judged by the number of over age wizards in a residence. The family are meant to discourage it at for under aged wizards at home. Being the only witch in my house, I'd never be able to get away with it like someone like James or Sirius could.

"What?" James says distractedly, fishing in another cupboard for something. "Why would I? We aren't supposed to yet."

I'm surprised – I'd think someone like James'd take the opportunity to break the rules whenever possible. Something else new I'm learning.

"Tea or coffee?" he asks, and I watch him busy himself with a teapot. I can't help but smirk at this unnatural scene.

When we return to the sitting room, Remus has gone.

"Probably just gone back to bed for a bit, he didn't sleep last night," James tells me as he sits down on the sofa.

"What time is it, anyway?" I ask as I sit beside him, sipping my tea.

"About half past seven. No one's up this early usually besides me. Sirius will sleep 'till about noon, probably."

We sit in silence, sipping our drinks. It begins to rain and I watch the raindrops beat gently against the window. This is pretty surreal for me.

"Oh," James exclaims suddenly, and then shoots out of the room. He returns a moment later with a small velvet pouch and dumps it into my lap.

"W-what's this?" I frown, placing my mug on the wooden table in front of me.

"Christmas present," James mutters hurriedly, and I can tell he's a little embarrassed.

I begin unpicking the tie around the top and then tip the pouch upside down. A small bundle of silver chain and green stones slides into the palm of my hand. I hold it up and the tear-drop stone reflects the lamp light beautifully.

"It's… Wow, James, it's…"

"Emerald," he finishes for me.

"What?!" I exclaim, and almost drop it on the floor.

"I thought it would bring out your eyes," he mutters sheepishly, avoiding my gaze.

"Did you just say this was _emerald?!" _I gasp, holding it up to the light again. He nods. "How much did it _cost?!" _I murmur, dazzled by its beauty.

"It doesn't matter," James shrugs. "I thought it'd look nice on you so I bought it."

I stare at him in disbelief. I can't accept something like this; it must have cost hundreds of galleons…

"I – It's lovely, James, really, but… I can't take this," I tell him honestly. I'd regret giving something this nice up, but I can't have James wasting that kind of money on me. Especially as I'm not really sure what's going on anyway at the moment with he and I.

"Don't be an idiot," he tells me, and then takes the necklace from me. "Turn around."

"James…" I begin to complain, but he shakes his head.

"Turn around," he repeats more firmly. I glare at him for a while, but when I realise he's not going to relent, I do as he says and shift around in my spot on the sofa. He brushes my hair to the side, sending shivers up my spine, and then puts the necklace on me.

When he's done I just sit awkwardly. I grab my tea to busy my hands but continue to sit in silence. Eventually, I mumble, "Thank you," and he replies with a small smile.

When Remus comes back down stairs at half past eight, James offers to make him a drink too, and heads back into the kitchen. I gather our used mugs and follow him while Remus slips back into sleep in an armchair.

"I feel stupid now," I say as I enter the kitchen, making James jump.

"Why's that?" he asks.

"You've invited me to stay in this freaking _enormous _house, set me up in some ridiculously luxurious bedroom and then dump _this _on me," I gesture the necklace before putting out mugs in the kitchen sink. "I haven't even written you a Christmas card or anything!"

James just laughs. "You're welcome," he tells me, but continues chuckling as he makes Remus a strong coffee.

"No – I mean…" I sigh. "Thank you for inviting me and everything, I mean, I know I've been a bit harsh to you in the past, but…"

"Just shut up, will you?" James turns to me. "We're friends. It's just a gift from friend to friend."

"What did you give Sirius, a diamond ring?" I scoff.

"Already got his own," James shrugs. "And anyway, my house isn't that big. It's nothing special."

My mouth drops. Our house is like a garden shed compared to this place. He laughs when I tell him this.

"I still feel bad," I say. "That you've given me this and I've not given you anything."

"You've given me your friendship, Lily," he says dramatically and gives me a sickeningly sweet smile. I nudge him on the arm. Impulsively, I then reach up and kiss him gently on his cheek.

"Well, thank _you," _he says with a wolfish grin. I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not. Then he just stares at me.

"What?" I ask, becoming embarrassed.

"It's just incredible how you can go from viciously bruising my ribs one moment to being sweet little Lily the next," he smiles.

I simply comply with his statement and nudge him in the ribs again, grinning.

"So ungrateful," he shakes his head in mock sadness, "I offer you my hospitality and a lovely present and all you do is abuse me and give me a silly little peck on the cheek."

"Oh, silly?" I ask, still grinning. "Now who's being ungrateful?"

"I guess I'm just pushing my luck, aren't I?" he smirks, leaning against the sink so he's my height.

"Yes. You are," I tell him, trying my best to keep a straight face.

For a moment we just stare at each other, smiling, and then he begins to lean in. I don't know what it is this time, but I don't move away. I don't flinch. I just let him move in and observe his features up close. I lower my eyes and see his lips are slightly parted, and for the first time I allow myself to recognise how damn good looking James Potter is.

His lips are centimetres away from my own when he closes his eyes and sighs heavily. I surprise myself when I realise that I actually feel disappointed.

"What are you doing?" he asks me, standing up straight again. Good question, what _am _I doing?

I shake my head slightly to show my confusion, and he goes on. "Don't mess around with me, Lily. You said we'd be friends. That's great, really, but don't get my hopes up if you're just going to beat me down."

I frown. "What do you mean?" But I know what he means.

"The last time I kissed you, you slapped me. You were angry. You've only just started to like me, I don't want to fuck it up now. And anyway, I told you I wouldn't kiss you again until you gave me your permission, so unless that's what you're doing you need to stop it, Lily."

I'm a bit shocked. We were just joking around seconds ago and now he's making me feel a little uncomfortable. I realise it's because he's right. I don't know what I'm doing. I can't deny that I like him far more than ever before, but I don't want to lead him on.

I sigh, and then I'm speaking without thinking.

"Well, maybe I am giving my permission," I whisper.

"What's 'maybe'?" he asks. "Either you are or you aren't."

I lower my gaze, furrowing my brow. What harm can it do? I've given him a chance before and we're actually quite good friends now. Maybe I should just give in and date him, like he's always wanted. But is it what _I _want? I already know the answer.

I look back up at him and his hazel eyes are unreadable. I take a deep breath.

"Kiss me," I breathe, looking straight into his eyes.

And then it's happening, he's leaning back in and I'm anticipating it – yes, I _do _actually want this. He's so close that I can see the groves on his lips and then –

"Jaaaaaaaaaamesy! Where are you, sweetheart?!"

A shrill sing-song voice rings through the sitting room and the hallway. James' eyes open wide and he quickly straightens up. He looks panicked.

I'm partly in a daze when I hear the harsh click-clack on heels on tiles and look towards the kitchen doorway. I dazzlingly pretty young woman enters, dressed impeccably in a floaty skirt and fur coat, paired with extremely high heeled shoes. Her poker straight blonde hair bounces around her breasts and she half-skips into the kitchen.

She flies straight past me and at James, flinging her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on each of his cheeks. I enviously eye the pink lipstick stains she's left behind.

"Oh – it's so _wonderful _to see you, James, darling," she continues in her sickeningly sweet shrill voice, "after you said you were busy all Christmas, I was distraught, but – oh, this is lovely!"

She kisses him again and I can't help but scowl. James clears his throat. He's almost as pink as the lipstick prints on his cheeks, and he's obviously avoiding my gaze.

**AN: Two chapters in the same night, how efficient am I?! **

* * *

Then the girl notices me, and her smile falters slightly.

"Oh," her eyes narrow and her smile drops considerably when she takes in my current attire. I pull down my cardigan over my exposed legs again but it's futile. "Who might you be?"

She's plastered the smile back on her face again, but I can tell it's completely fake this time.

"O-oh," I stutter, surprised to actually be addressed. "I'm Lily. Lily Evans. I'm - "

"Yes?" the girl raises her perfectly groomed eyebrows, and I can see the malice building in her eyes.

"She's my girlfriend," the slightly hoarse voice of a shirtless Sirius hits my ears as he comes into the kitchen, yawning.

He loosely wraps one arm around my waist. I'm really confused but I don't protest because I can sense that something really dodgy is going on, especially when Sirius and James exchange the same worried and annoyed look.

"Oh. Well, that's just lovely then," the girl is smiling again. Her flawless beauty is making me dislike her even more. "I suppose I should introduce myself, then." She slides her arm around James tightly in a very possessive way. "My name is Alice Bouvre. I'm James' fiancé."

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**Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Wow, more chapters! Sorry about the AN in the previous chapter, for some reason it's all the way down the bottom. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

I've no idea why I'm so shocked and angry. James has mentioned this 'betrothal' to me before. As I remember it, he was pretty angry about it and didn't want to go through with it. This surprises me because any teenage hormonal guy would never miss an opportunity to be with a girl as gorgeous as this.

It's my turn to force a fake smile now, as I politely shake Alice's outstretched, perfectly manicured hand. I have to stop myself from crushing the life out of her fingers. She's still eyeing me suspiciously when James speaks.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" I can tell he's trying to say it as kindly as he can, but I'm sure he's just as mad and confused as I am.

"I'm staying with family in England anyway, and your mother sent an owl last night saying how you'd gotten some free time and wanted to spend it with me," she flutters her eyelashes at him. The scowl's back on my face.

James' face darkens, and then he says bitterly, "Well, why don't we go and find my _dear _old mother, hm?" He casts Sirius an annoyed glance, and then shoots me a look of apology finally before striding out of the room, Alice at his heels.

"W-what's going on?" I ask nervously as Sirius helps himself to Remus' coffee. He sips it a few times before replying.

"Has James told you about her before?" Sirius asks me cautiously.

"K-kind of, in passing. He didn't mention her by name," I say.

"But you knew they were engaged?" He says, and I nod. "Well, that explains why you seem so calm about it," he gives me a wry smile.

"Well… why's she here?" I say, pouring myself a mug of coffee even though I don't like it much.

Sirius shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine."

He rouses Remus and hands him the half drunken mug of coffee, and I sit in silence as Sirius explains the news to him.

* * *

A while later, after I've gotten dressed properly and returned downstairs, James comes stomping into the room. He throws a jacket at each of us and then announces, "Get up now, we're going out."

The three of us share a confused glance, and then pull I pull on the jacket, which I notice isn't even my own.

"James," I call, "This isn't my - "

But the front door slams, indicating he's already left, and the three of us hurry to pull on shoes before hurrying after him. I realise that the jacket he's given me is the one he'd given me that day in Hogsmeade. I wonder if he's done it on purpose or purely by chance. He waits for us at the iron gate, and when we approach he sets off again down the country path.

"James – Hey, wait for me!" I hear the shrill voice of Alice coming from up the driveway. She's struggling to catch us up running on the cobbles in those stupid high heels. I find myself hoping she trips.

When she eventually does catch up, she tries to wrap her arm around James'. His hands are in his pockets thought, and he doesn't react to her trying to squeeze her arm into his. Eventually she gives up.

I'm not sure where we're going, but I follow the others quietly, walking beside Sirius. He is my new 'boyfriend' after all.

"Why doesn't he like her?" I ask him quietly. I'm genuinely curious; because I'm sure any guy would love to go on one date with Alice, never mind actually marrying her. She's beautiful, though I can't comment much on her personality yet.

Of course I dislike her by default. I mean, she's just interrupted what could have been my first genuine kiss with James. This time I actually wanted it, and she's just waltzed in and screwed it all up.

"I think he just finds her really annoying," Sirius replies under his breath. "She doesn't come from a very nice family, either." I raise my eyebrows and he clarifies, "Oh, no I don't mean they're like my family. They aren't dark wizards. They're just a bit… They're very much into pure blood supremacy."

Oh, great. Someone else who hates muggleborns. This trip to the Potters' house really isn't working in my favour.

Sirius then calls out to James, who's a few feet ahead. "James, mate! Where are we going?"

"The Boar," he shouts back, and Sirius grins.

"What?" I ask him. "What's the Boar?"

Still grinning, he tells me, "The Scorched Boar is a little muggle pub. It's quite quaint actually. I hope you like uphill treks."

It's not long before I figure out what he means. As we turn a corner, there's a steep hill ahead of us, with only a muddy path beaten into the grass. As we begin to climb, I have to grab onto Sirius or Remus several times to stop myself from slipping.

Alice, on the other hand, in her rickety heels, isn't having much luck scaling the hill at all. I see that James only half-heartedly helps her once or twice, and Sirius' grin tells me that the reason he's brought us here is to annoy Alice.

By the time we've reached the pub, it's begun snowing. Alice immediately runs into the ladies' bathroom, probably to wipe the mud from her legs and shoes and to fix her hair. Remus and Sirius go and get us drinks from the bar, and James and I find a table.

"I'm so sorry," he tells me as we sit down and I pull off my wet scarf. I give him a weak smile. "There's good news and bad news," he continues.

"Better to get the bad out of the way first," I sigh.

"Right," he clears his throat. "The bad news is that this is all my mother's doing. She doesn't want you to get in the way of my engagement, or something."

My heart sinks. So that's what it is? James' mother feels threatened that I'll destroy their pureblood reputation?

"That's why she's invited Alice over. So she and I can spend time together and I can forget about _any silly little ideas I have_ about you."

"Is that what she said?" I ask quietly.

"Not entirely, but I can assure you that the general message was practically the same," he pulls a grim expression. "The good news," he continues, "is that Alice is going home tomorrow morning."

I sigh with relief. But I still feel uncomfortable going back to James' house when I know that this is how his mother feels about me. My head sinks into my hands.

"There's, um, something else, too," James says, and I peek up at him. "The next opportunity we get, I believe we have some unfinished business."

He grins cheekily and I smile back, trying not to blush. The others return a moment later with our drinks, and Alice comes back looking a little cleaner, but I can tell she's really annoyed.

"That's a lovely necklace," she says to me, pointing at James' gift. "Where did you get it?"

I quickly glance at James and then say, "Oh, um… it was a gift. From a friend."

"Coloured glass, is it? They'd almost pass as emeralds, you know. Sadly, only the best can afford such things…" I don't correct her. Instead I just plaster another artificial smile on my face. "I, of course, have got endless jewels at home, in France you know…"

She drones on for ages about her own possessions, her life and school in France. At some point she must realise that no one has been listening for a while, because she eventually shuts up and doesn't say much for a while.

Then she asks, "So, Lily. How long have you and Sirius been together?"

I don't answer right away, and I start to panic. I'm not good at lying, or holding up facades. Sirius answers for me though, and I'm grateful.

"Six months," he says, and wraps a muscly arm around my shoulder. I can't make eye contact with anyone as I'm not feeling comfortable like this, and I don't think James likes it either judging by the glare he shoots at Sirius. His arm drops to his side soon after.

"Quite a long time then," she says. "Not as long as James and I, we've been together… How long now, honey? Two years?"

"That's just how long we've known each other," James mumbles.

"Yes – well, all the stronger our relationship will be!" She plants a kiss on his cheek. James childishly wipes it off when her back is turn and I supress a giggle.

* * *

We eat dinner at the pub too, which James pays for, and it's late by the time we get back to the house.

"Escort me to my room, James?" Alice asks him sweetly when she hands him her coat.

He rolls his eyes and nods, heading up the stairs. I'm tired too, so I say goodnight to Remus and Sirius and follow the other two upstairs.

"No – Alice you're in here tonight," I hear James say as I reach the landing.

"Why aren't I in my usual room?" she says indignantly.

They both spot me standing at the top of the stairs and I give a small, awkward wave. I know they're talking about my bedroom; Dotty had said it was the biggest guest room. I'm not sure if it'd be rude to just ignore them and head inside or not, so I wait.

"_Her?" _Alice says. "But that's my room, James. You know it is! Now I'm going to have to sleep somewhere small and cold and dirty…"

"Don't be such a brat," James grumbles at her. "You know there are no small rooms in this house."

Alice turns to me. "Well, go and enjoy your stay in my lovely bedroom then," her voice is bitter and I can't help but feel she's being a little dramatic. It's only a bedroom.

I mutter a quiet "goodnight" and then slip inside. For some reason I find myself standing by the open crack in the door, watching James and Alice say goodnight. I'm not sure what I'm expecting to see.

"I miss you," Alice says in her sickly sweet voice, fondling the collar of James' jacket. "You never write to me anymore."

"I'm just busy," James mutters.

"Doing what? Busy with _her?!" _Alice hisses, and I hold my breath. James doesn't say anything. "I see the way she looks at you, James."

My eyes open wide. What way do I look at him? How has she noticed it and I haven't?

"She probably only wants you for your money," Alice croons. She's pulling gently at the hair at the nape of his neck now. I feel the blood rise to my face.

James doesn't say anything. Alice sighs.

"Goodnight, James," she whispers. Then she reaches up on tip toe and kisses him on the lips and I watch in horror as he kisses her back. It goes on for a second or for ten minutes, I don't know. I'm angry. I'm confused. I'm upset.

Like I said, I'm not sure what I was expecting to see, standing at the door. It definitely wasn't that.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hello! I'm being super good this weekend, with all these chapters! Someone pointed out in a review that there were a few inconsistencies in my fic. I'm sorry if anyone else has noticed this! I guess I just get carried away sometimes. But I am 100% sure that James is a chaser and not a seeker. JKR said so herself, right? Well anyway, sorry if there's anything else. Enjoy!**

* * *

The next morning I don't get up until around midday. Partly because I barely slept during the night and partly because I don't want to be downstairs alone with James.

I don't know what to think. James Potter, the guy who has fancied me for years and who I've finally just about given into, was snogging his wife-to-be. The girl he claims he hates. The girl who's so stunningly beautiful that I practically melt into the background when she's around. He says he doesn't like her, but he seemed to like her enough last night.

I'm grateful that it's only another day until we head back to Hogwarts, because I don't know how long I'll be able to put up with this. Alice is meant to be going home today though, and I hope she's already left whilst I've been in bed.

I get dressed and sneak downstairs. I hear the voices of James, Remus and Sirius in the sitting room and I freeze. Do I go in and pretend like everything's the same? It'd be silly and childish to run back upstairs and hide in the bedroom. I can't avoid him forever.

I decide to act like nothing's the matter, and walk as confidently as I can into the room and sit in an empty armchair.

"Good morning," I say in a much happier tone than I feel. Remus offers me a slice of toast from the plate he's holding and I take one.

James looks as rough as I feel, and I wonder whether or not he slept much either last night.

"Has Alice left?" I ask, directing it at James, but he's avoiding my gaze again. Sirius nods.

"She went earlier this morning. Took forever, she kept dragging it out," he sighs. "She insisted on saying goodbye to us all."

I raise my eyebrows. "I must have missed that then," I say airily, "What a shame."

The other two smirk. James continues glaring into his coffee.

I don't say much until I offer to clear away the cups and plates. As I'm stacking them in the kitchen sink, I find myself wondering where James' parents are, seeing as I've only met them once during my entire stay. I suppose James' mother especially wouldn't want to be around someone like me. I sigh to myself.

"There's a house elf for that," James suddenly says from behind me. Without realising, I've filled the sink with hot soapy water and I've begun scrubbing the dishes. I wait until I've set the last cup to drain before replying.

"Well, it's too late now," I say.

"I need to talk to you," he says quietly, and my stomach drops. This can't be good. I realise I'm angry and just raise my eyebrows at him because I'm not sure I'll be able to control what I'll say. "We've got a problem," he says slowly.

"You're telling me," I say.

"What do you mean?" James asks, confused.

"Nothing," I say. "Let's just say that I hope you have a wonderful life with Alice. Don't bother sending me a wedding invitation though." I have to turn my back on him to stop myself getting upset. I wish I wasn't so angry. What did I expect? He's engaged to her, for crying out loud! Of course he's going to kiss her. What chance did I have, really?

"What's your problem?" James asks me, and he moves to stand behind me.

"I saw you," I say quietly, barely audible. "Last night."

James doesn't say anything. I turn to look at him. "I don't know what you were worrying about, me leading _you _on," I whisper. I can't raise my voice any louder because I know I'll end up either screaming or crying. "I'm not the one snogging people that I _supposedly_ don't want to be with."

"Lily," James says quietly. "You don - It's complicated, I can't just - "

"Don't worry about it," I say, waving my hands like a lunatic. "You don't need to do anything, everything's just great."

"Lily, just - "

"It doesn't matter," I hiss. "You do what you want, don't worry about me!"

I go to leave the kitchen, but he grabs my wrist and I stop.

"You're being childish," he says sternly to me. "Let me explain."

"Explain what? You saw a gorgeous girl and took a chance! You can get married to Little Miss Perfect and maintain your pureblood status and make mummy and daddy proud."

"Don't be like that," he says.

"Why wouldn't I? How many chances have I given you, James? I finally start to actually _like_ you and then you do this!"

He doesn't speak for a moment and then grins. "You actually like me?"

I blush, my temper rising. "Well, there's no point now, is there?!" I growl.

Then he pulls me by my arm into a side room, and then takes me outside.

"Just let me explain," he says. He closes the door so we're truly alone. I fold my arms and glare at him.

"It's – I just - " He sighs angrily. "It's not my fault, okay?"

"Oh yeah," I nod knowingly. "Yeah, it's not your fault that you just accidently found yourself glued to her face."

"No – Lily, it's…" He sighs. "This will sound a bit stupid, okay? So just shut up until I've finished."

I frown in annoyance but then nod. And I listen.

"Well, I've already told you before that we're engaged. I had nothing to do with it, I told you it was just a tradition."

I nod impatiently.

"Anyway, my mother seems to feel a little threatened by you, and uh… well you know. She thinks that I'm going to fall for you and ruin the entire engagement. But I guess it's already too late for that though." He ruffles his hair sheepishly. "The thing is… Alice likes me. Like, genuinely likes me, apparently. Don't get me wrong, Lily – I still have no intention whatsoever to marry her. Ever. I like _you, _Lily. If I'm marrying anyone, it's you."

I flush again. Big talk for someone in such a big mess. Isn't he a little young to be talking about marriage? I mean, I've only just admitted I like him. He's getting a bit ahead of himself, isn't he? I shake my head at him. "So what, then? What are you going to do?"

"She's threatened to cut me off if I cancel the engagement," he sighs. "Completely disown me."

"But – she can't do that!" I gasp, genuinely shocked.

James chuckles darkly. "You don't know my mother. I have a plan though. I just have to get _Alice _to cancel the engagement," he says.

"Why bother," I sigh. "You know she'd never do it, and it's so much hassle for something so stupid."

Suddenly James grasps both of my hands in his own. "Don't you understand, Lily? I don't want to marry her! For God's sake, you've just told me you like me, do you really think I'm just going to give up now?"

"Then why did you kiss her?" I ask quietly.

He sighs. "Keeping up appearances, I guess. It didn't - "

"You mean… you've kissed her before?" My heart sinks. I thought I knew James Potter. Turns out there's this whole other side to him I knew nothing about.

He nods. "Twice. I'm sorry. Lily, think about it. Before, I thought that this would be it. I'd be stuck with her…. I knew I'd never have a chance with you – I mean, you hated me! But it's different now. You like me."

I roll my eyes as he grins.

"Trust me," he says. "Please."

"I don't know," I reply.

"I'm sorry," he tells me, and I can see that he genuinely means it. "Let me try and fix this." I just nod in reply.

Then he grins again. "So… how about we finish what we started yesterday?"

I smirk. "Don't push your luck," I say quietly. I'd actually love to tend to that business, but now isn't the right time. Not for me at least. I give him a quick hug instead, and it's a while before he lets me go.

As I push open the door to get back inside, there's a scuffle of feet and hushed voices. In the sitting room, Sirius and Remus are looking much too casual, avoiding my gaze. I notice them grin at each other when they think I'm not looking. They must think I'm stupid.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Hello hello. Happy Christmas for two days ago! Sorry there was a bit of a wait for this one. I'm lazy.**

* * *

The night before we return to Hogwarts – last night – I didn't get much sleep. So I don't know why I'm surprised to groggily wake up on the train at around midday. After a moment of my body and brain waking up, I realise why I'm surprised. Opposite me, Remus, Sirius and Peter are playing some kind of game, which tells me that the shoulder I'm resting my head on must belong to James.

What surprises me is that I don't jump out of my seat immediately. In fact I find that I don't really mind. All I'm bothered about is the numb aching spot on the side of my head which is where I assume James' shoulder has been digging in.

"What time is it?" I ask as I give a small yawn and shift away from James.

"Just past two," Remus tells me after checking his watch.

"Sleep well?" James asks me, smirking.

I shoot him an unamused look and bring my feet up on the seat, leaning on the window. "I didn't sleep well last night," I say, supressing another yawn. "Don't know why."

This is a lie. I know exactly why. I was thinking all night, concocting a plan of sorts, I suppose. I've come to realise that after all these years, after his arrogance and his stupid yet beautiful face constantly bugging me, he's grown on me. A lot. I actually like James Potter.

And I mean _like. _His friends too – I mean, Sirius and James are both self-righteous gits, Remus is lovely and Peter is barely even noticeable, but I like them. They're _my _friends now.

I don't even know if he still feels the same way about me. I know he _used _to like me, that's obvious when I consider the amount of times he asked me out and complimented me, but I've no idea what he's thinking now. Since I've joined their group he's not said anything or made any moves – well, he hadn't until that morning in the kitchen.

And of course there's little miss pretty pureblood, his wife to be. I don't even know what to do about this, or whether I should do anything at all. Which is what got me thinking.

I've admitted it, although not fully, that I like James. I fancy him. I possibly want to date him. But there's no way I'm getting involved in anything with this engagement in the way. I don't want to get hurt and frankly I cannot be bothered to handle any kind of drama.

So this is my plan: I'll tell James that if the engagement is cancelled, I'll date him. Until then, things will stay the same. Hopefully.

I don't know how I'm going to tell James this. I don't know how he'll take it. He's already said that he's going to try and get Alice to cancel the engagement. How he's going to manage that, I don't know.

Anyway, surely he'll be happy. I mean, after all this time, I've actually given him a chance and discovered he's not as bad as I thought, it's just like the others keep telling me: he's trying to impress me and show off to get my attention. I must admit that when it's not annoying, it's funny.

"Gone off me?" James' voice brings me out of my sleepy daze. No James, quite the opposite actually. I raise my eyebrows in response. "You seemed quite comfy over here and now you've gone off in a mood over there," he says.

I smile in mock sympathy. "James, sweetie, you'd better pray you don't catch me when I really _am _in a mood."

"Oh, onto pet names now, are we?" he smirks cheekily as I cast him another annoyed look. "Anyway, what do you mean? You're always in a mood. Miserably quiet and grumpy."

"I am not!" I say as I nudge him with my elbow.

He chuckles as I settle back into my spot by the window. It's not long before I fall back to sleep.

When I wake up a while later, it's dark. We must almost be in Hogsmeade because the others have already changed into their robes. Wait, what? Did they change here? While I was sleeping? Right in front of me?

I don't know whether to feel smug or grossed out. All I know is that any other girl would be hysterical with glee if they'd been caught in a compartment with James Potter and Sirius Black, Quidditch superstars, while they got undressed. I have to stop my imagination from wandering so I quickly grab my bag from under the seat and head into a toilet to change into my own school robes.

When I get back to our compartment, the train is slowing down. Students line the walkway with their bags and trunks by their sides. Remus and Sirius are amongst them, and only Peter and James remain in the compartment. Poor Peter is too short to reach his own trunk, so James pulls it down for him.

Determined to show I'm not as pathetic as Peter, I reach up on tiptoe to get my own. It's been pushed to the back of the rack by someone else's luggage and I can't get to it. I see James' hand swoop over to pull it forward, and I slap it away.

"I can do it myself, thanks," I snap, desperately reaching and failing.

James arm drops. "You sure?" he asks, and I can hear the amusement in his voice, so I look around and see he's not even looking what I'm doing with my trunk. He's looking at my body and then he quickly looks away. I look down.

My school skirt's ridden up and my butt is very nearly on display. James is trying not to grin. I quickly pull down my skirt to the proper length.

"Get it then," I snap, feeling myself go red. "Please," I add, when he looks surprised at my harsh tone of voice.

When he's pulled it down effortlessly, I grab the handle and drag it out of the compartment, heading for the platform full of students milling about. There's a tug just above my elbow and I stop.

"What's wrong?" James asks, frowning.

"What? Nothing's wrong," I say.

"Then why have you been so… I dunno, distant? You've barely spoken to me since Alice left," he murmurs.

I pull my arm out of his grip and continue walking down the aisle.

"Are you shy?" he asks, and when I turn my head around I see he's smirking.

"What?" I say. "Shy? About what? My skirt riding up?"

"No," he says, "Although that was a treat." I give him my signature glare. "What? I'm a hormonal teenage guy!"

I roll my eyes and turn back around.

"No," he continues, "I mean about… well, you know…"

"Clearly I don't," I say in a sing song voice, because I really don't and this is getting on my nerves.

"You like me," he replies in the same tuneful voice, prodding me gently in the back.

I stop and set my trunk upright and turn to face him. I guess this is it.

"About that…" I begin, and he groans.

"You've changed your mind," he says in a miserable voice.

"Not exactly," I say, and his face brightens up. I move to let a younger student squeeze by, and then continue. I don't know how to say it and I can tell already I'm going to end up blushing like an idiot and messing it up. "What if, um… Well, what would you say if – stop it!"

James is already grinning at my stuttering. Fantastic. What if he doesn't even consider my offer? What if he thinks I'm stupid? What if he doesn't even like me anymore and thinks that I'm a sad, desperate loser?

Then, completely the opposite of what I'd planned and practised last night, it all comes out at once in one long garbled sentence. "Well… I've kind of realised that I really like you now and I guess you know that anyway because I've already told you and you just said it a second ago and I don't know if you still like me but since you've been bugging me for so long and you're actually kind of a nice guy I was considering dating you but only when Alice is completely out of the picture."

I take a breath and then actually take in what I've just said to him. Oh, here comes the ridiculous blushing, right on time.

James' expression is unreadable. I don't know if he's amused, happy, mad or what. Then he just says almost too casually, "Okay."

"Okay?" I say. "Okay? Okay what? Okay yes?"

"Yeah," he says, still deadpan. "Okay."

Okay. Good. Now what?

Now what? Well, this happens. James leans forward over my trunk and kisses me before I can say or do anything to protest. It's not like that morning in the kitchen, he doesn't lean in slowly so I can look into his stupid dreamy eyes or observe his stupid perfect lips, he just does it. Just like that. Only for a few moments, but it's great.

When he moves away from me he smiles. Not that smug smirk that's so often plastered on his face, or that cheeky, face-splitting grin. Just a normal (and frankly rather cute) smile.

"I just – I just said_… after_ she was - " I stutter breathlessly.

"Yeah, I know," James interrupts casually. "Just wanted to get a taste of what I'm going to be fighting for," he shrugs.

I just stare at him. I'm actually pretty dumbstruck. And pleased. Man, am I pleased. My fingertips are tingling. I wasn't expecting this.

"Tastes good," he finally says, and then the smug smirk's back. He nods towards the train door. "Go on then."

* * *

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	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Here's another one because I felt bad about the lack of chapters recently.**

* * *

James is striding away to a carriage now, dragging both of our trunks behind him. I'm just stood on the platform, still in a daze, staring after him.

I've just had my first kiss with James Potter. Well, my first _proper _kiss with him. And here he is stalking off like the confident git he is, while I'm stood here in this bemused state. I wonder how badly this'll affect his ego.

All I can think about now is what's going to happen next. How are we going to tackle the issue of James' engagement? Will we even be able to tackle it at all?

Hold on a second, no. There is no 'we' in this situation. I like James, he likes me. I know it's not his fault he's engaged, but it's certainly not my fault either. If he wants to be with me, he can take the lead. I'll help him, sure, but there's no way I'm taking control. This isn't my problem. I always seem to have to sort out every personal problem I come across, and it's nice to know that this one doesn't revolve around me. Not directly, anyway.

I clamber into the carriage soon after whilst James helps Sirius heave our luggage on top. Remus looks amused as I sit down.

"What?" I say.

"James seems to be… Well, I'd like to say slightly crazy. He was speaking really quickly just now, could barely get his words out properly. He was all giddy too; he couldn't keep still or stop smiling."

I smile upon hearing this. So much for his calm and casual act on the train.

"Well, what did he say to you?" I ask, curious as to what he's told his friends.

"Just that he felt really good, and he had a good feeling, that sort of stuff," he tells me, smiling.

So James hasn't said anything. Well, this is good, I suppose. I don't really want him announcing that we're dating when we aren't. Yet.

When Sirius and James join us in the carriage, there's no trace of excitement or giddiness in James. He's just as calm and collected as he was before. He only makes eye contact with me once, and then looks away quickly whilst grinning to himself. I think I prefer his 'act' to what Remus has told me. I told think I could hope with excited James.

When we arrive at Hogwarts, I decide to head up to my dormitory before eating to organize my stuff. I tell the boys I'll meet them in the hall in a half hour or so.

As I climb the staircase, several girls who I've never spoken to before greet me as I pass.

"Hi, Lily," one smiles, an odd look in her eyes.

"Good Christmas, Lily?" another one asks, and doesn't even wait for my response before continuing on her way.

This is very bizarre. Besides Mary and Severus, I'd not really had very many friends before now, so the fact that all of these random girls are being kind to me takes me aback. However, I notice that this isn't the only new thing. Several others are throwing me dirty looks and snide glances as I pass. Now I'm starting to worry.

When I reach the common room, I've literally climbed through the portrait hole when something heavy slams into me.

"Lily!" it shrieks, and I realise it's Mary. "I knew it, I knew it! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"T-tell you what?" I stutter. She's squeezing me hard.

She lets go and holds me at arms' length. "You _know_ what," she winks at me, and then hugs me again.

"I really don't," I say, trying to keep the uneasiness out of my voice.

"You! And James! I knew you'd get together! When did you start going out? Tell me everything!" she squeals, and I'm frozen in shock and confusion.

"I – What? Who – I'm not… Mary, what's - " I can barely stammer out my words as I try and process this shocking news.

"Lily, are you okay?" Mary asks me, some the happiness and excitement on her face replaced with concern.

"I- I'm not going out with James," I manage to say, and I notice that a fair few eyes are watching us.

"What? Don't be silly, Lily, what're you - " Then Mary's eyes widen and I think she's understood that everything isn't quite right. She drags me up to the dormitory, which is luckily empty, and then casts _Silencio _on the door.

"Talk," she orders me, as she plonks me down on a bed and stands before me, arms folded.

"I'm not going out with James," I repeat in a small voice. "Who said I was?"

Then it registers. Is this what's caused the change in behaviour in all of those girls? They think I'm dating James so they're jealous or… glad? But… what? I close my eyes in an attempt to calm down and gather my thoughts.

"The whole school's buzzing with the news of Lily and James, finally together," Mary says with a happy sigh.

"They can't be," I frown. "James and I aren't together."

After a moment of silence, Mary says, "Then why does everyone think you are?"

"Don't ask me!" I exclaim. "Who told _you?" _

"No one in particular," Mary shrugs. "First I heard one group of girls talking about it, then another, then another…"

"Well, what were they saying?!" I cry.

"That you'd spent Christmas at James' mansion and that you were dating… Oh, and you were seen snogging on the train," Mary tells me. I blanch. Mary's eyes widen again. "So it's true?"

"What? Well, y – no! I – I… I _did_ go to his house over Christmas, but only for a few days! And it wasn't just me, his friends were there too!"

"And?" Mary ushers me. "Did you kiss him on the train?"

There's no point in denying it, because my pink cheeks will give me away immediately. I nod.

Mary squeals again. "Ooooh! I knew it! I knew you'd go out sooner or later, this is just perfect!"

"No, it's not!" I say, trying to hush Mary. "We _aren't _going out and everything is _not _perfect!"

"But you kissed him?"

"He kissed me," I mumble, growing pinker by the second.

"So what's the situation?" she pesters me.

"It's complicated, Mary," I sigh. "I don't really want to talk about it. But anyway, that's not the point! Why does everyone think we're dating? Who spread the rumour?"

Mary shakes her head. "I don't think it's necessarily a rumour," she says. "I guess everyone already knew he had a huge thing for you, and then you have to admit that you _have _been spending more and more time together… And then with the news of you staying with him must have blown the sparks into a flame, and then you were seen _kissing_. It's not hard for people to but two and two together, Lily."

"But – but no one saw – I'm sure the platform was pretty much empty by that time! Everyone had headed to the carriages!" I splutter.

Mary shrugs. "Then maybe James told everyone. You know it'd be hard for him to keep something like that quiet."

Yes. Yes, it probably _would _be hard for him to keep his mouth shut. Fine, he didn't tell Remus, but I'll bet he told Sirius while they were alone. Who knows who else he's told?! Anyone that'd listen, probably. I wish I'd have told him to keep his mouth shut when I had the chance.

Now I'm angry. How could he do this? I've finally built up some amount of trust and affection for him and now he goes and blabs to the whole school about something that isn't even true. I don't blame him for being happy but… this is ridiculous. He's told everyone that we are dating, or at least that we _will_ be dating. Mary's right: people can piece up the facts, but it's James' fault that this has happened.

I don't even realise I've abandoned Mary and I'm marching down to the hall in the midst of my anger. More girls acknowledge me or glare, even some boys now, but I don't care. I'm too mad.

When I spot James at the table, I stomp over and slam one hand down on the table in front of him, the other on my hip.

"What did you do?!" I hiss at him. I've made him jump, and he looks pretty surprised and confused.

"Um… I came straight to dinner after agreeing to wait for you to come back from Gryffindor Tower?" he offers with a slight smile.

"Oh, hilarious," I shoot at him. "You know what I mean!"

"I don't," he says.

"You've told the whole school that we're dating!" I hiss.

His face is deadly serious now. "No, I didn't," he says.

"Well _I_ haven't!" I exclaim, but then quickly sit down after I see that people are beginning to stare. I don't want to cause any more of an issue than there already is.

"What's the problem?" Sirius says through a mouth full of potato. "You're dating, what's the point in keeping it a secret?"

"We aren't dating!" James and I both say at the same time. I look at James quizzically.

"Oh," Sirius says quietly, suddenly avoiding both of our gazes.

"Oh? What's _oh?"_ I ask. Then Sirius blushes. A rare sight.

"Well, you know… I, uh… I saw you both share a cheeky snog on the train and… I might have mentioned it to one of my girls - "

"Padfoot!" James exclaims.

"What?" he replies, "I didn't know! You've just been so… _cosy _lately, and then you go and do _that_, so I just assumed…"

"Assumed what? That you could tell the whole school someone's private business?!" I hiss at him, feeling guilty now for yelling at James.

"What exactly have you said and who to?" James asks him with a glare.

"Well, you know, I was hanging around waiting for you… I was talking to Sophie Cresswell, you know, in Ravenclaw..." We both nod impatiently and Sirius goes on, "And then I spotted the two of you snogging, and said, 'oh, it looks like James and Lily are finally going out then', and then something like 'they must have got together when she came to stay over Christmas', and then Sophie just laughed and then went to join her friends," he finishes, and then I can see the realization dawn on his face and he finishes in a small voice, "I guess gossip spreads fast, huh?"

"You fucking prat," James sighs.

"I'm sorry mate, I didn't know," Sirius smiles sheepishly. "About time though, isn't it?"

James can't suppress his grin well enough and I can't hide my still-pink cheeks.

"Fine," James says to him after a while. "You didn't know, but you still should have kept your mouth shut until you'd spoken to me!" Sirius nods in agreement and apologises again. "You started this mess, Sirius. Find a way to fix it."

"Before it's too late," I add in a groan. I really don't want to be the centre of the Hogwarts gossip. Sirius nods and then leaves, and I hope he's gone to tell all of his little girlfriends the truth.

When everything's settled down a bit, I turn to James.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," I mutter. "I thought you'd said something, that's why I was mad."

"Forget about it," he tells me. "I wouldn't say anything anyway. Not when we aren't even dating yet," he winks at me.

"Shut up," I say with a smile. I'm not good at talking about this kind of stuff, dating and relationships and the like. He complies and spoons some food onto my plate.

* * *

I'm just about finished when a horribly familiar echo of heels and a high pitched shriek hits my ears.

"You!"

I spin around in time to see the flawlessly styled form of none other than Alice Bouvre rapidly approaching. The look in her eyes makes her seem crazy, wild almost, and this is the full last string of thoughts I have before her perfectly manicured hand clashes against the side of my face and jerks my head to the side, knocking me into a slight daze.

Then there's uproar. James is on his feet, as is Remus and Peter, and Sirius had reappeared behind Alice. Everyone's shouting.

When I regain my senses, I clutch my stinging cheek and see that James is restraining Alice by the arms to stop her from reaching me again. The others are all saying things like 'what do you think you're doing?' and 'what are you playing at?', but I'm too distracted by the pain on my face. It's the shrill, piercing tone of Alice's voice that draws my attention to her.

"I turn up here to spend a term with _my _boyfriend, _MY _fiancé – and immediately I'm greeted with the news that this little bitch has been all over him!"

That sickly sweetness has gone from her voice and she looks crazy. She's shooting me death glares in between struggling to get out of James' grip.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" James yells at her, "Look what you've done to her!"

I assume he's talking about the cut on my cheek that I've just noticed. Alice's nail must have caught my skin because now I've got a cut just below my cheekbone. That must be what's causing all the stinging.

"What on _earth _is going on here?" I recognise the voice of Professor McGonagall cutting through the babble. "How dare you all cause such a scene like this? Go to my office, all of you! _Now." _

* * *

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	18. Chapter 18

Seriously, what the hell is going on? This must be one of the most eventful days to date. James finally kisses me, the whole school think we're fully fledged dating when we're not, and then James' fiancé shows up out of the blue and practically attacks me. Why is she here? What on earth is she doing at Hogwarts?

I'm furiously trying to figure this out as the six of us follow McGonagall to her office. Sirius and James are still trying to control Alice, and Remus and Peter walk with me a safe few metres behind. My eyes are watering from the stinging sensation in my cheek. Alice may look like a fair and dainty princess but she can sure cause some damage when she means it.

"Inside," McGonagall barks at us as she holds the door open. I make sure James and Sirius have blocked Alice away from me before I trail in at the back of the group. McGonagall swiftly takes a seat behind her desk and then glares at us ferociously from behind her glasses. "What on _earth _did you think you were all doing?" she demands.

The others all begin in an incomprehensible babble but I chose to remain silent. Besides from briefly raising my voice to James earlier, I've done nothing wrong. I don't need to explain myself. Instead I try and make out what the others are saying.

"-Just marched in and attacked Lily for no reason, she would have done much worse if we hadn't -"

"-Only just arrived and hear every pupil talking about her kissing _my _fiancé, surely you can understand, I was angry -"

"-Tried to stop her in the entrance hall, Professor, but she just shoved past me - "

"–No idea what she's even doing here at Hogwarts, Professor, this is completely -"

"Enough!" McGonagall barks and everyone falls silent. She takes off her glasses and then says, "One at a time, for crying out loud, if you'll all stop behaving like feral children! Mr Potter, would you kindly - "

"Professor, we were just sitting eating dinner, and then _she _came in spewing all kinds of sh- stuff and then attacked Lily, we were only trying to restrain her, Professor, look what she did to her!"

"Yes, yes I can see, thank you." She turns to Alice. "Miss Bouvre, would you like to tell me _why _you behaved in such a manner upon your very first visit to the castle? Your actions simply cannot be tolerated!"

I hear Alice clear her throat, and when she speaks, there's no trace of the wild shriek from before – she's reverted to her usual sickly sweet tone. "Professor, I arrived at Hogwarts only moments ago and I was bombarded with the news that _she _is supposedly dating James – he's my fiancé, you know, we're engaged!" I think she tried to wrap her arm around James' but he sharply pulls his away. McGonagall luckily doesn't seem to be convinced by Alice's charade.

"You may be upset Miss Bouvre, but it certainly doesn't give you any excuse to attack another student!" McGonagall says to her harshly.

"Why are you even here?" James suddenly shoots at Alice.

"You know why!" she says to him, seemingly affronted. "Mummy and daddy arranged with your headmaster for me to spend a term here! Primarily to study away from France for a while but also to spend some time with you, we never spend any time together; it's hard for us to usually!"

"What – I don't – I don't want you here!" James yells at her, and McGonagall clears her throat.

"Mr Potter, please! I don't know what personal issues there are here, but whatever it is we cannot tolerate this kind of behaviour!" She turns to Alice again. "You will receive a month of detention, Miss Bouvre, and I think it best if you stay away from Miss Evans, and vice versa," she nods towards me and I nod in return.

"In the meantime," McGonagall goes on, "I think it best if you head over to the hospital wing, Miss Evans, and have Madam Pomfrey sort out your cheek."

"I'll go with you," James quickly says, earning a look of disgust and hurt from Alice. She shoots me a death glare too.

"Miss Bouvre, as you've just arrived, it's customary for you to be sorted into one of our houses, even if you are staying for just a term. You will accompany me to the headmaster's office and you shall be sorted there."

She dismisses us, and Remus, Sirius and Peter head up to the common room while James comes with me to the hospital wing.

I don't say anything while we walk, and neither does James. The pain's easing now but I'm still angry. I'm confused and a little hurt. Then something clicks in my memory.

Madam Pomfrey hands me a cloth soaked in some sort of ointment after we've arrived and she's inspected me. "Hold it onto the cut for about fifteen minutes. It will sting, but it shouldn't leave a mark."

I perch at the end of one of the hospital beds and hold the cloth to my face, allowing the ointment to do it's work.

"What did she mean?" I ask James after a while of silence.

"What did who mean?" he replies.

"Alice," I say quietly. "When you asked her why she was here, and she said 'you know why'."

James shifts uncomfortably and then sits beside me at the foot of the bed before running his hand through his hair.

"Do you remember the morning after she left my house?" he says finally, and I nod. "And I said that there was a problem?"

I frown and nod again.

"The problem wasn't entirely about my mother disowning me," he says quietly. He's avoiding eye contact. "Just before she left, Alice told me she was coming to Hogwarts for a bit."

I don't say anything. For a moment, the warm sensation on the side of my face distracts me, and then I say, "Why didn't you tell me before now if you already knew?"

"I meant to at first!" he says. "And then we kind of went… off tangent when I was trying to tell you, and since then I'd honestly forgotten about it."

I raise my eyebrows. "How could you forget something like that?" I say. "Especially after I'd said on the train - "

"That's when I remembered," he sighs. "When you mentioned her, I remembered she was coming. I was going to tell you tonight."

"Bit late for that," I say bitterly.

"I know," he says. "I'm sorry, Lily. I really am. There's nothing I can do."

"How long will she be here?" I ask, and he shrugs.

"Not long, until Easter I think. They're seriously bending the rules letting her come at all," he says, ruffling up his hair again. "I think her family probably have connections, they must have pulled some strings… My mum probably had something to do with it somewhere along the line."

"Hm," I mumble, not really knowing what else to say or do. Instead I take to letting my eyes wander around the room.

"Let's have a look then," he says, breaking the silence a while later, and I remove the cloth from my cheek. He tucks a stray hair behind my ear, and then he softly kisses the spot that was an open gash just minutes before. "Good as new."

"Don't," I whisper. "Not while she's here. Not after what I said earlier."

He smiles weakly at me, and then takes my hand in his and we just sit in silence again for a bit before we decide it's time to head back up to Gryffindor Tower.

As we approach the portrait hole, a sense of dread suddenly hits me and I stop.

"What if she's been sorted into Gryffindor?" I ask quietly. "What if she's in there right now, waiting for us?"

James smiles again. "Lily, you've met her. She'll definitely be in Slytherin."

"But why?" I ask. "She's not, you know, evil…"

"So what? I bet most of the Slytherins aren't," he shrugs. "She's ambitious and cunning, you know they're Slytherin traits. She's obviously gone behind my back arranging her visit and coming to Hogwarts. She's the kind of person who sets her sights on something and won't rest until she's got it. It's her way or no way, especially with someone as stubborn and spiteful as her."

I nod, realising that Little Miss Perfect obviously isn't as sweet as she'd like everyone to believe.

* * *

**Reviewwwwwwwwwww!1 please**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Hello! I just wanted to say that Alice is in the same year as the marauders. There wasn't really an opportunity to mention it in the story, but now you know!**

* * *

James really must know Alice well, because when we head down to breakfast the next morning, Alice is sat at the Slytherin table and James shoots me an 'I told you so' look.

I don't think she sees us walk in and I feel relieved. This really frustrates me because I don't want to be relieved. I don't want to be worried or scared in the first place, but since she launched herself at me last night I can't help but feel just a little timid and wary of her.

"Ignore her," James mutters to me. He must sense how I'm feeling.

"I wish you would have told me," I say, picking up some toast as we sit down, "at least to prepare me."

" I know," he sighs, "But I've already told you, I completely forgot about it until -"

"Until on the train, yeah I know," I grumble. "You could have said something then, though."

He nods, defeated. "I know, I'm sorry," he tells me.

"Can't do anything about it now anyway," I sigh.

We eat in silence for a bit and then James asks me what I'm going to do in my free period before our charms lesson.

"Library," I shrug.

"To do what?" James laughs, "Surely not any homework?"

"Maybe I just want to read," I say a little hurt. "What's wrong with that?" James shakes his head and holds his hands up in defence. "Why, what are you doing then?" I ask him.

"Go and find Sirius and Peter, maybe go down to the pitch for a bit…" he shrugs, taking a third bit of toast.

"What do you mean, 'find'," I ask. "Aren't they still in bed or something?"

James just stares at me for a second, his mouth slightly open. "I – uh, yeah… Yeah, they're still in bed, I meant I'll go and find them in the common room or somewhere."

"What about Remus?"

He stares at me blankly again and they mutters, "Yeah, him too."

He gives me a hasty smile and then turns his attention almost completely to his food. I get the sense he's keeping something from me and I don't like it. I make a mental note to ask him about it at some point.

* * *

After breakfast, James tells me he'll see me later and he heads down to the Quidditch pitch. Maybe he thinks the others have skipped breakfast and gone straight down there. I shrug and head up to the library.

I've got an armful of books on the desk beside me but I'm not reading any. Instead I'm subconsciously doodling on a piece of parchment while I daydream out of the window. Just when I'm thinking about what's making me so distracted, the real life version appears out of nowhere, making me jump.

"I _do _hope I didn't hurt you too much," the once again sickly voice of Alice says from behind me.

I just stare up at her. Why am I not surprised? Is she going to hit me again?

No, apparently she isn't, because she pulls out a chair opposite me and sits down, crossing her legs elegantly. What the hell is she doing? What am _I _meant to do?

"Well, did I?"

I blink. "Did you what?"

"Hurt you. Did I hurt you when I slapped you last night?"

She's smiling at me – that awful, false smile. I wonder if it works on many other people.

"What?" I ask quietly, confused. Why the hell is she asking me this? Does she take pleasure from other people's pain?

She doesn't reply. She smiles at me for a few moments, and then she takes to inspecting the ends of her hair. I'm sat rigidly still. Why is she doing this? Does she think everything is okay now? Maybe she's just trying to intimidate me. I hate to admit that it's working – this is a little creepy.

"So, when did the other one break up with you? Sirius?" she asks absentmindedly, still playing with her hair.

"I – what?" I stammer.

"Well, surely you must have broken up with him for you to have your eyes set on my James now," she shrugs. "Unless you're a lying cheat… but I probably wouldn't put that past you."

"E-excuse me?"

"I saw how you were looking at him, you know, when we were at that god-awful pub," she goes on, barely even noticing my expressions of disagreement and frequent attempts to interrupt. "I knew something was wrong then, because you'd barely batted your eyelashes at the other guy all day, never mind look at him in the same way you fawn over James."

"I – I don't _fawn -"_

"But that doesn't matter," she says, and then she's facing me dead on, glaring straight into my eyes. "Because I've got a thing or two to tell you. I don't know who you think you are or what you think you're doing, but James and I are _engaged. _Do you know what that means? We're going to get married! He _wants _to be with me, just as much as I want to be with him, and I don't know what stupid little fantasy you're trying to put in his head, but you can forget it."

When I don't reply, she sighs and then she gets up. Just as she's leaving, I don't know how I dare, but I whisper, "He doesn't want to be with you."

She stops, and my heart almost does too. Here it comes, I'll bet she's about to slap me again. I'm such an idiot.

Then I can feel her face centimetres away from my face, and she hisses into my ear.

"Stay away from him," she breathes, "Unless you really want to suffer."

I blink. What? What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm not taking this. I'm not having some perfect, stuck up rich girl threaten me. I quickly stand up and push my chair back, almost knocking Alice over.

"Don't tell me what to do," I tell her in such an unnaturally soft voice it sounds menacing. This works for me as it seems to take her by surprise too.

She's still glaring up at me. Without her stupid high heels, I'm glad to see she's quite a lot shorter than me and this makes me feel less intimidated.

Then she smirks at me. "Okay," she says simply. "Fine. That's fine. If I can't do anything to stop you, I'll just have to contact James' mother. I'm sure you wouldn't want something like _that _on your conscience."

The look of understanding must be enough for her, because she shoots me another sarcastic smile before flouncing off out of the library.

What was it James had said? His mother would disown him if he refused to marry Alice.

They only thing standing in the way of Alice and James is me. If James gets cut off, it'll be my fault. Alice is right. I don't want that on my conscience. James losing everything just because I've gotten in the way of his cosy little engagement.

It's not my fault James is engaged. It's not James' fault. But it is my fault if I refuse to leave him alone. If I'm stubborn and selfish, I'll get to be with James but he'll lose everything.

But, if Alice knows that James' is practically being blackmailed into marrying her, she must know that he doesn't really like her, surely. Or maybe he was willing to actually go through with it before I started spending time with him, and that's what's changed everything. Of course.

There's nothing I can do besides to as Alice wants. If James wants to try and fix it, he's free to try but I have a horrible feeling that whatever he does will turn around and somehow it'll be my fault.

Should I even tell James? I shake my head to myself. No, that'll only make things worse. He'll be mad at Alice, which will also make things worse, but of course he'll probably be his usual stubborn self and do as he wants, even if it means being disowned.

I guess the only thing I can do is distance myself from James until I find a way to figure this out.


	20. Chapter 20

The bell goes, snapping me out of this silly, angry daze that Alice has left me in. I hastily shove the books back on a random shelf and pick up my stuff, heading for charms.

Charms. Where I sit beside James. Just like in every lesson. How does she expect me to stay away from him when I have to sit next to him every day?

I guess if I can't physically keep away, I'll have to do it mentally. Cut him off. Shut him out.

Surely he'll know something's up, though. He's not thick. What else is there that I can do though? Because I'll bet it'll only take something little for Alice to snap and run off to James' parents, messing everything up completely.

James is already in the classroom when I get there. I stop in the doorway and take a breath. How am I going to do this?

"Hi," he says brightly as I dump my bag on the desk and sit down. Should I just ignore him completely? No, then he _will_ know something's wrong.

"Hello," I reply in a stiff sort of voice, not looking at him. Wow, this is going to be hard. I hope James finds a way to get rid of Alice soon because I don't think I'll be able to stay away from James very well anymore. How times change, huh.

But what if that doesn't work? What if he does find a way to get Alice to cancel the engagement, but they're still both forced into it? I suddenly have a strong desire to ask James this, but hold my tongue.

"What's the matter?" James asks, and he's frowning. I don't get a chance to answer because Flitwick's starting the lesson. I guess it'll have to wait.

Whilst scratching down notes from the board, I have a sudden realisation.

Alice isn't here. She's not in this room, nor will she ever be. She can't see if I'm 'staying away' from James. Hell, I could lean over and kiss him right now if I wanted to, she can't stop me. She's not even in our house, so I guess the only way she'll ever get to nosy in on us is meal times, break times and Hogsmeade visits, I guess.

Why didn't I realise this earlier? Damn Lily, you're slow. But I probably still won't be able to tell James about Alice threatening to snitch on us. He'd go mad, blow everything and that'd be it.

"So what's up?" James whispers as Flitwick's back is turned.

"Nothing," I whisper back. "Why?"

"You're biting your lip," he replies. "You do that when you're worried."

Do I? I had no idea.

"So?"

Flitwick loudly shushes the room – we aren't the only ones whispering. When his back is turned again I say in what I hope is a bright tone, "Nothing's wrong," and offer him a smile, but he doesn't seem convinced.

"Is it Alice?" James asks me as we head out of the classroom at break.

"What?"

"She won't be here for long, Lily. I'm working on it," he assures me. When we get to the staircase, I stop. Suddenly I feel very paranoid that Alice'll be beadily watching us somewhere.

"Um, listen," I say slowly. "I'm going to go to the library."

He frowns a little and then nods. "Okay, I'll come with you."

"No!" I say far too quickly, and I can see a suspicious look spread over his face. Oh god, this is ridiculous. I'll have to tell him something. I can't just avoid him for no apparent reason all day, just on the off chance that Alice'll be lurking somewhere.

"I can't – I don't think… James, I don't think it's a good idea to -"

"Lily," he says, pulling me out of the doorway, "You don't need to be scared of her, you know."

"I'm not scared of her!" I say, annoyed. Well, I'm not. I'm just scared of what she's going to do. But I can't tell James that, not yet. "I just… can't be doing with any drama or anything."

This is also true. It was bad enough her making such a scene in the middle of dinner in front of loads of people. I can't have her doing it every waking minute.

"I just… I think it's better if you spend break and eat lunch and dinner with the others, you know?"

He frowns again. "What about you? You're just going to sit by yourself?"

I shrug. "I don't mind, I'm used to it. I'll still see you in lesson and in the evenings," I say with a hopeful smile.

Then he shakes his head. "No, don't be stupid, we aren't doing that. We don't have to change everything just because she's here."

Yes, James, we do. Because otherwise she'll have another tantrum and run off to your mummy because you don't want to be her lovely, caring husband.

I sigh.

"It's what _I_ want to do. Like you said, she'll only be here for a while. It's only… what, like two and a half hours a day?"

"Yeah, but -"

"But nothing," I say. "Anyway, I know she'll want to be wherever you are, and I can't bear to be around that stupid sickly voice of hers."

He smirks, and I think I've won him over. I scan the corridor for students and when I can't see any, I quickly give him a quick kiss on the cheek, shutting him up before he decides to protest.

"I'll see you in a bit," I tell him and then head off to the library.

"Well, you were right," James says in an annoyed voice as he slams his textbook down beside me in transfiguration.

"About what?"

"As soon as she saw you weren't about, she bounced straight over to us in the courtyard and wouldn't go until the bell went," he grumbles.

"Aren't you a lucky boy?" I say sarcastically, and he doesn't seem too amused.

"What would you have done if… you know, _this _hadn't happened?" I ask him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, if I hadn't… you know, what if things had stayed like they'd always been? Would you have just married her?"

He shrugs. "Maybe. Not without a fight though."

"But you would have just accepted it?"

He shrugs again. "Yeah, I guess. If it wasn't Alice, it wouldn't have been anyone else."

"That's ridiculous," I say, "You've got tonnes of girls after you!"

"Yeah, but they weren't you," he says, "Not until recently anyway."

He squeezes my hand under the desk and I flush.

"Okay, stop it now," I say quickly as I smirk, because the classroom is almost full now and I hate all this mushy stuff.

* * *

**review review review review review review review review review review review yolo **


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Next chapter is up!  
ps. I'm like 99% James is a chaser, JKR said it herself, right? Someone please back me up, i'm starting to worry I'm deluded! Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

I'm so stupid. How could I forget that _she'd _be in our potions lesson after lunch?

At least it's only one lesson. I suppose I can put up with her for just one lesson. At least she won't be near me. Thank god for that stupid seating arrangement.

She's there at the front of the classroom when I enter. Well, lucky Mary, she's sharing a table with her. I even feel sorry for the other Slytherin boy.

I sit down and take out my things, waiting patiently. Alice keeps turning around to look at the door every few seconds, and something tells me she's waiting for James to come in. I bet she's thrilled, getting to share a lesson with him.

When he does enter, he must see Alice straight away because she throws him a little wave, and he gives me a dark look when he sits down beside me. Of course, Alice's eyes have followed him around the room and she's now scowling when she sees him sit by me.

I start to feel worried again, but hey, it's not my fault. Seating arrangements.

When Slughorn's settled the class and set us a task to do in pairs, I offer to go up and collect some ingredients whilst James organises our workspace. For a moment I think that Alice will take this opportunity to say something spiteful to me or to threaten me again, but I'm pleasantly surprised when I'm left to gather my stuff in peace.

When I turn to head back to the table, she's in my seat talking to James in a low whisper. Great.

I can't just hover here by the store cupboard, so I take a deep breath and head back over to our table.

"I couldn't remember if it said three or four frog's spleen," I say, trying to sound natural and pretending nothing's wrong. "So I got four, just in case."

James nods and gets up straight away, leaving Alice hanging mid-sentence. I busy myself with whatever I can but she's still in my seat and doesn't seem to be moving. She's still talking to James quietly in that ever-so-sweet voice and I try to listen in.

"I was thinking summer, because you know how I hate the cold. Plus, summery colours go perfectly with my complexion. Don't you think? James?"

What's she talking about? Why she's thinking summer? Then it dawns on me. Is she planning their wedding or something?

"James, are you listening to me?"

"No, Alice, I'm not," James snaps, suddenly slamming a glass vial down on the table, breaking it. "I'm trying to work, will you just go away?!"

Clearly I'm not the only one who's noticed the blood oozing from his hand, because Alice is suddenly clawing at his sleeve, dragging her towards him. "Oh, darling, oh! Look what you've done! Here, come here, I'll -"

"Go back to your goddamn table!" James growls at her, pulling his hand away from her and casting her a somewhat frightening look.

She glares at him for a second and then gives a loud huff, then throws me a death glare, before stomping back to the front of the classroom.

I look slowly from the broken vial to James' face, and then to his still bleeding hand. I'm not sure if I should say anything, he still seems pretty mad. He tries fixing the deep gash on his hand a couple of times and when I can't stand to see him fail again, I take over.

"Come here," I say gently, and within seconds I've very neatly healed the cut, leaving behind just a light pink line. Then I vanish the blood he's dropped on the table and his sleeve.

"Thank you," he says, but I can tell he's still a bit angry. Then he goes on, "I'm sorry. She's driving me crazy. I can't get rid of her."

I glance over at Alice and she's glaring at the two of us. I quickly get up and begin busying myself with the potion we're meant to be brewing. When I glance back up again she's busy with her own work. I hate this. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I _can't_ handle just one lesson with her. Being closely watched like this, it's horrible.

* * *

At the end of the lesson, James has to rush off because he has to teach Sirius some Quidditch thing, I can't remember what exactly. I nod and say I'll finish cleaning up our potions stuff as he leaves. When I've taken a filled a vial with a sample of our potion in it to the front desk, I grab my stuff and leave the empty classroom.

I'm barely around the corner when I'm shoved roughly into a cold stone wall.

"You must be really thick."

Oh, why am I not surprised? Trying to ignore the dull pain now throbbing at the back of my head, I see that Alice is once again standing before me, looking wild and crazy again.

"I told you to stay away from him. Can you not even do that for one day?"

I shove her hand off of my shoulder and push her away. For such an elegant looking girl she really does favour violence.

"What have you done to him?" she hisses at me. "He used to _adore _me. Now all of a sudden you've appeared and he hates me. He can barely stand the sight of me. Me!" She then gestures herself. "How can he just ignore _this?!"_

I scoff at the ridiculousness of her words and begin to walk away but she's hot at my heels.

"What have you done? Drugged him up with a love potion or something?"

I turn and face her, and try to speak in the calmest and most reasonable voice I can.

"Look, it's not my fault he doesn't like you. Don't blame me if he doesn't want to marry you. It's not my fault."

She looks like she's considering my words for a moment, and then she spits out, "Of course it's your fault! Everything was perfect until you showed up!"

I resist the temptation to tell her that James has been flirting with me for years - that he wanted to date me for years, because I realise that this would probably make me look pretty childish and just antagonize her.

Then she stalks in front of me, blocking my path. "I'm warning you. James and I _are_ getting married. Unless of course, you want me to blab to everybody about these stupid little games you're playing. Do you want James to lose everything? It'll be your fault."

I bite my tongue. Of course I don't want that to happen. This has nothing to do with me, but Alice is making it so it practically revolves around me.

"Stay away, or you know what'll happen. If not, I'll just…" she hesitates for a second. "Well, think of it like this. That cut I put on your cheek? If you carry on there'll be more where that came from. More that you won't be able to heal so easily. I'm sure James won't be half as interested in you without your pretty little face."

I blink. Wow. I'm not letting this happen. I won't let her threaten me or let her dictate my life. When Alice sees I'm not going to react, she throws me a sweet smile before flouncing off toward the Slytherin common room.

* * *

I'm waiting on the sofa by the fire when James and Sirius come back. Sirius heads up to the dormitory but James sits beside me.

"What's up?" he asks.

I shrug.

"No, come on. What is it?" he drapes his arm over my shoulder.

I sigh. "It's just, um… what – what exactly have you been doing to… you know, get rid of _her_?" I ask quietly so nobody else can hear.

"What?" he asks.

"I said, what are you doing about her?" I repeat irritably. "You said you had a plan."

His face darkens a little before he replies. "Yeah, um… it doesn't really seem to be working so well."

I raise my eyebrows in question. "What exactly _is_ this plan of yours?"

"I, um… Y'know. I was just gonna ignore her more and more until she gets the picture and leaves me alone once and for all."

"Really?" I ask. "Really?! That's it?! That's your big plan? Just ignore her until she decides to cancel your stupid engagement? You really think that's going to work?"

"Well – I didn't -"

"That's ridiculous," I hiss, "Why would that do anything besides piss her off? No wonder she's so mad!"

James smirks at me. "I didn't know it was so important to you."

I flush. "I-it's not! I'm just saying, you say you don't want to marry her but your efforts in stopping it are pretty poor."

He shrugs. "It's harder than I thought. I'm good at muscling my way out of things but I've never had to do anything like this before. I don't know what else to do."

I sigh. Neither do I. Maybe they should just get married. Who am I to do anything to stop them? James'll keep his wealth and status and his family and Alice will be happy. Why should I get involved? Suddenly I find myself asking this out loud.

"Why don't you just marry her?" I mutter under my breath.

"What?"

"Who knows, you might start to like her. You liked her enough to consider marrying her before."

"I – what? Lily, what are you talking about?"

I shrug at him. I don't know. What _am _I talking about?

"I don't _want_ to be with her!" James hisses at me, pulling his arm away. "You know that! I want to be with you!"

"Then do something about it," I snap.

"I'm _trying,"_ he insists.

Should I tell him about Alice's threats? I guess he's the only one that can do something about it. I don't want to suffer in silence. But then again I also don't want to cause even more problems.

I said that this wasn't my problem. It's not for me to sort out. But I'm beginning to realise that I'm going to have to do something. Exactly what, though, I have no idea.


End file.
